


The Melancholia of Incomplete Magic

by godmedallion



Category: Touhou Project
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:07:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 30,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23294470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/godmedallion/pseuds/godmedallion
Summary: On the request of a satori from underground, Hijiri Byakuren and Toyosatomimi no Miko venture into Makai, and find themselves drawn into a dangerous scheme by its creator god that threatens both Makai and everything beyond it.
Relationships: Hijiri Byakuren/Toyosatomimi no Miko
Comments: 5
Kudos: 50





	1. A World That Even Devils Fear

Guided by a resident, the unusual pair walked through the streets of Former Hell. The residents were suspicious of outsiders, and from behind the shuttered windows and closed doors of the eternally darkened city, dozens of eyes watched them carefully.

If it weren’t for who their guide was, they would have been attacked by now, but even the vicious youkai who called this strange Underworld their home were hesitant to try anything. Not with the kasha guiding them; a pet of a satori, a cat that collects corpses to fuel the flames of the Blazing Hell, one who leads vengeful spirits from the surface into this nightmarish paradise. Only a fool would challenge that kasha.

KAENBYOU RIN   
Death-Gathering Cat of the Underworld

So she wandered freely, guiding the duo through the city built in Former Hell.

The two following looked around, both keeping an eye on their surroundings. Despite being assured safe passage, neither felt truly safe here -- although, if a fight were to break out, it was likely they could hold their own. The watchers could tell that, too; you didn’t survive in Former Hell for very long without working out who was a safe target. For people that knew them, they would have seemed an odd pair. Indeed, even to those underground, it was clear they were somewhat mismatched.

The first of them, following the kasha closely, was a moderately tall, youthful-looking woman with sandy hair, dressed in flamboyant fashion -- a pale pink dress over a violet dress, a long violet cape, and, strangely, a pair of matching purple headphones. An aesthetic intended to catch the eye and convey the authority of the nobility of old in the same glance.

The other thing of note was the sheathed blade, more than half her own height, that she wore by her waist. Despite looking around carefully, she never made a move to reach towards it, but rather than conveying a lack of use, it gave the impression that it rarely needed to be used to begin with -- a certain-kill weapon.

She was said to be a saint; said to be capable of listening to ten conversations at once; said to be capable of understanding an individual’s entire life simply from a glance. An ancient prince, reborn in the modern age as a figment of fantasy.

TOYOSATOMIMI NO MIKO   
Taoist Prince of Wisdom Forged of Desires

If Miko’s appearance was intended to convey power and grandeur, then the woman following her did the opposite; a simple white dress, with a plain black coat over it. Despite this, by standing almost a head taller than her companion, with long purple hair that faded to a rich brown, and sharp violet eyes, the impression of her appearance was sufficient to stand out at least as much as her companion. And despite not wielding a weapon as blatantly, those watching, their instincts honed by the darkness, got a far more dangerous impression from her than from her counterpart.

That was only to be expected, though; whereas Miko was a saint of humans, this woman was a saint of youkai, who had endured centuries imprisoned within a realm of darkness and retained her peace-loving attitude in spite of that. To such malefactors as resided in Former Hell, a saint of youkai -- even if they did not recognise her as such -- represented a far more dangerous challenge than the one who claimed to represent humans.

An immortal magician, who had survived for one thousand years in the depths of Makai, where even demons fear to tread; a monk who preaches to youkai, hoping that they too will find their salvation in spirituality.

HIJIRI BYAKUREN   
Buddhist Priest of Salvation Forged of Darkness

The two are well-known to those of the surface as rivals, sometimes friendly, sometimes violent; and it would be a surprise to find the two of them, with neither of their followers, accompanying a kasha of Former Hell deep into the Underworld. But they share more similarities than differences, and when they were each sent a letter requesting they come alone to the entrance to the Underworld, the so-called Fantastic Blowhole, their curiosity led them to encounter the kasha, who cheerfully explained that her master had wanted to meet them, and neither had wanted to refuse -- especially with the other there.

And so they were walking through the unfamiliar streets towards the immense structure built at the city’s heart -- a mansion that loomed over the smaller, flatter structures around it, dominating the area with its presence. The Palace of Earth Spirits.

The Palace’s appearance was incongruous, its design and materials clearly different from the more Japanese-style houses of the city, but it would be -- it was a remnant of when Former Hell had been a part of Hell, and had been left behind when its original residents left. But it was also far quieter than the typically rowdy city. No-one, it seemed, wanted to approach a place that a satori calls home -- which was, of course, how she’d managed to acquire one of the largest buildings in the Underworld all to herself.

The group wandered through empty corridors, dimly lit by the light that shone through stained glass windows. Occasionally an animal would be glimpsed around a corner, but it would always be gone by the time they could get a closer look. But Rin led them through the winding passageways with practised ease until they arrived at a large wooden door.

The door swung open at a touch, revealing a wide open room, much like the others; it was almost empty, but at the far side, framed by the light from a circular, stained glass window, was an ornate wooden desk, and an ornate wooden chair, and a girl, surrounded by animals.

As they entered, Rin jumped forwards, before transforming into a small black cat in an instant and running over to the girl. She looked down at Rin with a pleased expression, before glancing back up at the pair as the cat curled up on the desk next to her.

She was young, but with old eyes; dressed in a simple outfit. She was almost unremarkable, if not for the fleshy-looking cords that stretched from small yellow hearts across her person to an unblinking third eye, floating just above the table, and watching the two carefully.

“You’re the satori,” said Miko, as they walked into the room and the door silently closed behind them.

She nodded, expressionless. “I am a satori, yes. The satori named Satori, in fact.”

KOMEIJI SATORI   
Undaunted Mistress of the All-Seeing Third Eye

Miko examined her carefully, and frowned.

“I would not be a good satori,” she continued, “if I weren’t capable of repelling something as simple as a human’s ability. The first trick you learn is how to repel the thoughts of others.”

Miko narrowed her eyes, and Satori sighed. “I was hoping you would be better conversation. My pets have told me a lot about you both, you know. And I can see, too, that this isn’t how you thought it would be going. But I’ve no intention of taking things easy on you.”

“Did you bring us here just to complain about us?” asked Miko.

“I was hoping I could negotiate with you both, actually,” replied Satori.

“…What do you want from us, then?” asked Byakuren.

Satori’s gaze flicked to her. “Straight to the point. Good. I want you to recover something for me. It was taken by the ruler of Makai, and I want it back.”

“Makai?!”

The two of them said it in unison, and Satori nodded.

“Makai, yes. I needed someone who had been there before. Why else would I request your presence?”

Byakuren hesitated, long enough for Miko to interrupt. “Then why did you bring  _ me _ here?”

“Makai is a dangerous place,” Satori replied simply. “And I’ve been informed of your compatibility. If I was sending someone to navigate Makai, they would need someone to support them. I determined that the two of you were the best option.”

“Not someone from the Temple?” challenged Byakuren. “Surely--”

“Surely not,” countered Satori. “You of all people should know what makes Makai so dangerous. Your disciples may be powerful, but they are ultimately mere youkai. I have one shot at this. I won’t send someone simply to die on my behalf. It would… send the wrong message.”

“Then send me, alone,” insisted Miko. “Or with my followers. I--”

“You’ve never been to Makai,” said Satori. “Sending someone to Makai with no knowledge of Makai is a fool’s errand.”

“…You said it was taken by the ruler of Makai,” said Byakuren. “Shinki?”

“Who else would it be?”

“How are you connected to Shinki?”

Satori smiled unpleasantly. “If you want to know, try asking her whilst you’re there. You’re on better terms with her than I am, after all.”

“We haven’t agreed--” started Miko, to which Satori began laughing. Or giggling, rather, surprisingly girlishly.

“You haven’t agreed?” repeated Satori. “I can see everything, Toyosatomimi no Miko. You agreed the moment I mentioned Makai. Everything from here is simply bargaining. You’re curious, and you’re bored. Your followers are unreliable, and despite throwing yourself into your studies, you are confined within Gensokyo, with no power to change the pre-constructed world around you. You’ve become a small fish in a smaller pond. The world has moved on without you. And then, I offer you the opportunity to explore a world of taboos and mysteries. A chance to learn about things you could never learn before; an opportunity to test your abilities, that you have worked so hard to refine. And you believe that you can refuse, and accept yourself for doing so?”

Miko had gone bright red. Byakuren had never seen her flustered; but she supposed, Miko was far more used to reading others than being read, and so casually, at that.

“I suppose if I tried to refuse, you would say the same to me?” Byakuren said, whilst Miko tried to regain her composure.

“You weren’t going to refuse to begin with,” replied Satori calmly. “You, too, have unfinished business in Makai.”

Miko, in a calm, steady voice, asked, “So what do you want us to… recover, you said?”

“A cup.”

“A cup?”

“A cup, yes. It has a special property that makes it invaluable to both myself and to Shinki. I lent it to her, with an agreement that she would return it after eight hundred years. The designated time has passed, and I want it back. If you can recover it, I will give you any reward that is within my power to give.”

“It’s that important?” asked Byakuren, surprised.

“If it weren’t that important, do you think I would have bothered with all of this?” Satori sighed, and pet Rin on the head, causing the cat to purr. “I don’t usually invite outsiders to visit me here. I don’t like them. The last few that came through got into meaningless fights with me. Before that, someone fed a god to one of my pets. So yes. It is that important to me.”

Byakuren nodded. “I’ll help you, then.”

“Of course you will. Rin will guide you to the Underworld’s entrance to Makai. If you need anything else…” She paused for a moment. “No, nothing significant comes to mind. Enter Makai; locate Pandemonium; ask Shinki for the cup. I’m sure she’ll be more than happy to show you both out, once you’ve concluded your business with her.”

“We’re not getting a chance to prepare?” protested Miko. “Or to tell people where we’re going?”

“What would you need to prepare?” asked Satori. “You already brought everything you would need if you were to get into a fight with, say, myself. And I’ll have my ravens inform your followers of where you’ve gone. Your obligation is to return to them in one piece. Now then…”

She tapped the table, and Rin jumped off, transforming from cat to kasha before she hit the ground. She quickly moved around Byakuren and Miko, opening the closed doors. The two turned to leave, but just as they reached the doorway, Miko hesitated.

“You can still refuse, yes,” said Satori calmly. “You would abandon Hijiri to head to Makai on her own, since she’s already agreed, and I don’t think she’s the type to break a promise. You’d lose one of your greatest rivals, though. Perhaps that would be worth it?”

Miko muttered something under her breath, and turned away again.

Unseen to her, Satori had a satisfied, almost smug smile. “You wondered what it was like to match wits with a satori. I hope you appreciate the experience.”

The doors closed behind them, as Rin led them out of the Palace of Earth Spirits.

* * *

The kasha once again led them through the city, this way in the opposite direction to which they’d arrived -- further into the Underworld. As she did, the two behind her discussed the conversation.

“I’ve never seen you like that.”

Miko sighed. “I was surprised. Somehow--”

“Somehow you thought that you could outsmart a mind-reader?” teased Byakuren.

“No,” replied Miko, irritated. “But I wasn’t expecting her to say all of that. I didn’t like her insulting Futo or Tojiko, either. Unreliable… perhaps they’re unreliable in terms of their adherence to their training, but as far as allies go, I couldn’t hope for better ones.”

Byakuren still had a teasing smile. “Not worried about Kaku Seiga’s feelings, then?”

“Seiga isn’t one of my followers,” stated Miko, “and -- no, not really. She  _ is _ unreliable. I give her credit for teaching me Taoism, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t evil.”

Byakuren nodded.

“And what of  _ your _ followers?” asked Miko. “I believe she referred to them as mere youkai, incapable of handling Makai.”

Byakuren hesitated. “I have a lot of faith in my followers,” she said, after a moment’s deliberation. “I believe that they can follow the precepts that I’ve taught them. One of those precepts is non-violence; to not fight unless they must. And that aside… the creatures of Makai are far stronger than youkai, but that’s not why they’re a threat. There are neither humans, nor youkai, nor gods, in Makai. Everything that exists there is a demonic spirit.”

Miko was silent for a moment, and then understood. “Creatures of pure spirit would be at their most fragile, then?” she asked.

Byakuren nodded. “If a vengeful spirit could destroy a youkai’s soul, the creatures of Makai could erase everything about them simply through contact. At least, that’s what I suspect. I’d rather not find out.”

“Of course. But… that does raise the question of how vulnerable  _ we _ are to the demons of Makai.”

“Oh, we’ll be in danger,” replied Byakuren, with a surprisingly casual tone. “But I didn’t survive in the depths of Hokkai without learning anything about how to take care of myself. So long as we don’t run into any trouble, we’ll be in no more danger than we would be in Gensokyo.”

“That is comforting, I suppose,” said Miko. “I’m only at risk of getting attacked by everyone I meet whilst gathering food, or finding that my confidants have been replaced by tanuki, or that the Moon tried to invade us whilst we were asleep.”

“There’s no Moon in Makai,” said Byakuren. “So we should be safe on that front.”

“Well, there’s some good news.”

The two of them continued following Rin, who had led them out of the town and into a strange, rocky area, with a number of sudden outcroppings and cliffs giving it the feel of a series of underground valleys that had been wedged into one another. Finally, she paused in front of a valley that was much like the others, except that marked around it in a dozen languages were signs. The ones they could read were warning signs.

“Welcome to the Makai gateway!” declared Rin cheerfully. “I’ll just break down the barrier, but make sure to let me know when you’re through, so I can seal it up again! We can’t let anyone from Makai slip through, after all.”

“If you’re sealing it behind us,” asked Miko, “then how are we going to get back, if we manage to find your master’s cup?”

“There’s a guard here,” Rin replied calmly. “When you get back, just knock or something, and she’ll go grab me. I’m one of the few people that can do this, after all.”

They entered the valley. It quickly changed appearance; going from the dull rock to shining blue crystals, creeping across the walls and floor until they were surrounded by it. Then they turned a corner and found themselves in front of a wall of blue crystal. Sitting on a clump of crystals to the side of the wall was a girl with pink hair, dressed in a simple red dress, and reading a tattered-looking book. She glanced up at them in surprise as they approached.

“Humans?” she asked.

Rin nodded. “Satori’s business,” she said simply.

The guard nodded, and continued reading her book. “Try not to cause a mess.”

Rin took a small pink crystal out of a pocket of her dress, and placed it against the wall. It expanded outwards, until it was in the shape of a circle roughly five feet across; and then, it swung open.

A bitter, freezing wind blew in from the other side. Rin gestured at the opening pleasantly.

“This is your last chance to reconsider~!” she said.

Miko instead turned to the guard. “Make sure you’re waiting for us,” she said.

“‘Course,” the guard replied dismissively.

“Make sure you let our friends know where we are, too,” said Byakuren. Rin nodded solemnly.

Then, the two of them stepped into Makai.

* * *

They emerged at the base of a sheer cliff made of that bizarre blue crystal. It stretched up as far as they could see, and into the distance either side, in a perfectly straight line, as far as they could see. In front of them was a snowy field, but the blizzard that was blowing across it inhibited even their superhuman senses; they could barely see more than a few feet in front of them, even in spite of being able to see all along the cliff, clear as crystal.

“This is Makai?!” asked Miko, her voice almost drowned out by the wind.

Byakuren nodded, taking a step forward and almost sinking into the snow. She reconsidered, and jumped up, floating slightly above the ground. In spite of her fairly light clothing, she seemed unaffected by the temperature.

After a moment, Miko floated up next to her. “I was expecting somewhere warmer,” she continued.

“There  _ are _ warm parts of Makai,” Byakuren assured her. “Trust me, Hokkai was warm. Makai’s just… huge.”

They looked back down at the place they’d emerged. With the pink doorway gone, it was practically impossible to tell where in that wall of crystal the entrance was.

“It feels like we’ve been abandoned here,” mused Miko, before turning away, looking out into the snow. “But in that case, we’ve got no option but to keep going.”

They moved into the snowstorm.

Even whilst being able to fly, progress was slow; in trying to keep sight of each other, they weaved in and around one another, sometimes losing sight for an instant and finding that they had swapped sides, or that one of them was floating above the other, or that they were suddenly facing each other. But after a long while, they finally emerged above an empty plain, and had their first proper view of Makai.

Plains of blue grass stretched out before them for miles, occasionally broken up by another patch of crystals, or a sudden mountain outcropping. Beyond the plains, the land became a series of hills, upon which tiny lights could be observed. It was impossible, even from here, to see what lay beyond those hills. Miko considered floating higher, but reconsidered when she got her first real look at the sky.

There was no Sun or Moon, or even any stars, in that sky -- just an empty black expanse, as far as the eye could see. There was no light from Heaven here; instead, the world was perpetually bathed in the eerie blue light of the crystals scattered across it.

Behind them, the snowstorm raged, hiding the crystal cliffs from view. The edge of the world.

They carefully landed back on the empty plains.

“It’s so… empty,” Miko said, at last. “Even a senkai isn’t this empty.”

“Everything in this world was made by Shinki,” said Byakuren. “But she hasn’t finished it yet. She’ll be toiling away at it until the end of time.”

“A punishment?”

Byakuren shrugged. “She never told me. I asked her why she remained here a few times, and every time she gave me a different answer.” She glanced at Miko. “You might be able to find out, though. You’ve got your ability.”

Miko frowned. “It didn’t work on Satori,” she replied, “and if it didn’t work on her, then it might not work on Shinki, either. Especially if she’s already associated with Satori.” She scowled. “That’s both sisters it doesn’t work on, then.”

“It would be difficult to read the desires of someone who doesn’t have any, I suppose,” mused Byakuren, as they began walking.

“I’m not so sure she doesn’t have any,” Miko said. “During the religious war, Kokoro mentioned that she discovered that it was Koishi that stole her mask of hope. A being without desire, or even thought, would not be capable of taking something from another, let alone refusing to return it. But rather…”

“Even though she operates on a subconscious level,” continued Byakuren, “she continues to have thoughts similar to those of her conscious mind?”

“So it would seem.”

“Perhaps, she really has found emptiness, then…” Byakuren smiled to herself. “I’ll have to renew my efforts to bring her to my Temple when we get back to Gensokyo.”

“Thinking about recruiting whilst I’m right here?” asked Miko wryly. “That’s surprisingly blatant of you.”

“Oh, you’re hardly any competition,” Byakuren replied, faux-casually. “After all, you don’t even want any of your disciples, and when you turn them away, I’m all too happy to invite them in~”

“Does that actually happen?”

“More often than I expected. I suppose some humans consider one religious youkai to be the same as another.”

“I’m not sure how I feel being lumped in with the youkai.”

“You’re certainly not human, anymore.”

Miko laughed at that. “Certainly not. I’ve surpassed humanity, broken through the barrier called life. If anything, my ability to read desires is proof of that.”

Byakuren raised an eyebrow. “You couldn’t do that when you were alive? I heard a lot of stories about you, like being able to listen to ten conversations at once--”

“I could do that when I was still human, yes,” replied Miko. “But being able to read desires was new. I had it when I awoke, I knew how to do it, and I felt comfortable using it, but as for how I gained it… I couldn’t tell you. Futo went through the same process as I did, and she doesn’t have any such ability.”

“How suspicious.”

“Indeed. But it works for my purposes, so if it is due to someone else’s interference, I can’t imagine what their goal could have been.”

They were silent for a while, walking across the pale blue grass.

“I wonder,” said Byakuren, “what desires did you see in me, that first time, to make you react like that?”

* * *

One of Miko’s first orders of business upon her resurrection was to confront the Buddhists who’d had the  _ audacity _ to attempt to seal her once again.

Within hours of emerging from the Great Mausoleum, Miko, followed by the revived Mononobe no Futo and the ghost Soga no Tojiko, had strolled into the Myouren Temple. She’d looked around, and asked loudly, contemptuously, “So this is the temple of the Buddhists who thought to keep me sealed?”

\--At which point, she was immediately attacked by a dozen youkai.

Byakuren had been strolling through the village with Toramaru Shou, buying food, when a villager informed her that her temple was on fire. She’d immediately hurried back to find several of her youkai followers -- as well as a few more that she didn’t recognise -- attacking two humans and a ghost. There were several smoking holes in the roof, but nothing seemed to be on fire, at least.

She drew breath -- gave herself a little bit of her supernatural energy -- and yelled, shockingly loud, “WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE  _ DOING _ ?!”

Houjuu Nue grinned down at her, pausing her relentless attacks for a moment. “Protecting the temple, boss!” she declared cheerfully.

Tojiko used the brief distraction to send a blast of lightning from her hands into Nue, blasting her backwards through the roof, and leaving another hole. The smoke trail crackled slightly.

“Uh-huh,” Byakuren replied, unconvinced. “Could you all… stop, perhaps? I don’t know who our guests are, but I’m sure this isn’t called for.” She closed her eyes. “It’s important to follow the six Perfections. If we continue to attack those around us, we will never reach enlightenment.”

Several of the youkai stopped immediately. At a gesture from Miko, her followers also ceased their attacks, and aside from a few easily-deflected potshots, the other youkai gradually stopped attacking, sensing that the fun was over.

Nue floated back in from a hole in the roof and pouted, before glaring at Tojiko. Byakuren gave her a sharp glare, and she jumped down next to the others, still pouting.

Miko’s gaze never left Byakuren.

“I know you were all trying to protect the Temple,” Byakuren started, “but this--”

“You’re the head priest at this Temple?” Miko interrupted.

Byakuren nodded. “My name is Hijiri Byakuren. I apologise for the… trouble… that my followers caused you. I’m attempting to teach them not to be so violent, but--”

“It’s no matter. You, yourself, have caused more trouble for me than they have.”

Byakuren had raised her eyebrows at that, nonplussed. “I apologise for the trouble that I have personally caused you, then, although I confess I’m not certain what it was. Might I ask…?”

“My name?” Miko smiled arrogantly. “You may refer to me as Prince Shoutoku.”

“Prince Shoutoku?” Byakuren repeated, surprised. Then, bowing deeply, she continued, “It’s-- it’s an honour to have you here. You were invaluable in spreading Buddhism around the land. Without you, neither I, nor my brother, would have found any purpose in our lives. I-- I don’t suppose--”

Miko’s arrogant expression faltered, and she frowned, her gaze never leaving the priest bowing before her. “Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be able to preach at this Temple,” she replied. “You see, I only spread Buddhism for my own ends. I revived using the Taoist arts.”

Byakuren picked herself up almost immediately. “You were the ones in the Mausoleum.”

Miko’s eyes widened, and then she smiled again. “Correct. You attempted to seal us up.”

Byakuren hesitated for a moment. “…Then I apologise for that, once again. Had I known who you were--”

“--You would have released me, of course.”

“--I would not have attempted to seal you.”

Their eyes locked. Everyone around them, who had been fighting so recently, was silent, watching their two leaders confront one another. Then Miko suddenly broke the tension by laughing, her gaze slipping away from Byakuren’s. “I appreciate your honesty, Hijiri Byakuren. I’ll have to keep an eye on you. And -- my name is Toyosatomimi no Miko. For next time.”

Miko walked around her, and gestured for the others to follow her. Futo hesitated for a moment, but Tojiko began poking her, and the two of them eventually followed their leader out in silence.

Byakuren watched them go for a moment, thoughtful. Then, she turned back back to the youkai, gesturing for them to begin the process of cleaning up the mess they had caused in defending the Myouren Temple from its unwelcome guests.

* * *

“Back then?” asked Miko, surprised. “It’s been a while… but to be honest, I sensed that you believed what you were saying. Even during my time, it was rare to find a priest who was as faithful as you. Like myself, most of them used it for power.”

“Mhmm.”

Noticing a sharp expression in Byakuren’s eyes, Miko hesitated. “That’s a compliment, I assure you,” she continued. “When I looked at you, I saw… conviction. And that’s a truly rare thing. A lot of people claim to believe things. Very few people actually do. I assure you that I would not have considered you a rival, either then or during the religious war, if I had thought that you were a fool, or a fraud, or something like that.”

“It’s odd to hear you praise the conviction of a Buddhist.”

“I’ll praise the conviction of anyone who possesses it. It is one of humanity’s finest qualities.”

“And what are your convictions?”

Miko hesitated. “I want to surpass humanity. That much is still true. To be bound by the rules set down at the dawn of time… to simply accept that ‘this is how it is’, and it’s not worth trying to change things… I want to reach the level of the Celestials. My conviction is to see how far I can go. What the limit of a single human is, in the end.”

Silence.

“I was told, once,” said Byakuren, “that Heaven is full, and they’ve closed the gates.”

“I’ve been told the same,” replied Miko. “But I’ll break them open myself, if I must.”

Silence again.

“I think I’d like to see that.”

* * *

They made good progress; the grass was light, and good for walking. The hills seemed to draw closer much quicker than one would expect, but it was probably a trick of the unusual lighting. Perspective was tricky to work out in that dim blue glow. But within a few hours, they were within a mile of the base of the hills, and had their first good look at them.

The lights from before, which Miko had suspected were the lights of houses, came instead from strange, twisted-looking trees, their branches bearing crystalline fruit that shone in a dozen colours. Clustered around one of them, though, were a group of figures dressed in blue, who seemed to be collecting the fruit and putting them into bags.

The pair stopped as they noticed the figures. “Fairies of Makai,” Byakuren explained quietly.

“Makai has fairies?” replied Miko, surprised. “I thought fairies were forces of nature.”

“If Shinki knows it exists, then it exists within Makai,” said Byakuren. “But be careful. They’re closer to Hell Fairies than the ones from Gensokyo.”

“And the trees?”

“I’ve never seen them before. I was trapped in Hokkai, and there weren’t any trees there.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask, actually,” said Miko. “If you were trapped in Hokkai, how do you know about the rest of Makai?”

“A few days after I was sealed in Hokkai, I met Shinki for the first time,” said Byakuren. “She was excited to have someone from the human world there, and wanted me to tell her everything that I knew about it. In exchange, she told me about Makai -- everything from its geography, to its residents, to its magic. I imagine she doesn’t get to show off that often, so whenever she got the chance, even very recently before I escaped, she would come by and just… tell me things, or show me things she’d made.”

“Hmm. The more I learn about this Shinki, the more difficulty I’m having working out what she’s like.” Miko frowned up at the sky. “Makai is said to be worse than Hell, and yet so far neither it nor its creator seems much of a threat.”

“Get into a fight with one of them,” suggested Byakuren. “That’ll clear things up.”

Miko was silent again for a moment.

“We should find somewhere to rest,” she said eventually. “We can’t just keep walking forever, and I don’t know if I’m willing to risk eating Makai food. I’ve got… some rations, but.”

“I can make food, if we have to,” said Byakuren calmly. “I can survive without eating, but it’s not an enjoyable experience, so I made that spell shortly after being sealed. Don’t expect it to taste like anything, though.”

“You talk about being sealed so casually,” remarked Miko. “Do you really not hold a grudge against the people that did it?”

“There’d be no point in it,” replied Byakuren. “They’re all long gone anyway. Even if I had confronted them, they were doing what they thought was right. And it all worked out in the end, anyway. If I hadn’t been sealed, I wouldn’t have arrived in Gensokyo.”

“And that was worth a thousand years in Hokkai?”

“…Well, what happened has happened. There’s no sense in dwelling on the past.”

They looked back up at the nearest hill. It wasn’t particularly tall, but it was tall enough that they couldn’t see anything beyond it.

“If we’re going to rest anywhere, we should rest on the top of that hill,” declared Miko. “That way, we can keep an eye out for anyone coming near. Maybe see if there’s a town nearby.”

“And the fairies?”

“We’ll just have to be careful not to disturb them, if you  _ really _ think they’re that much of a threat.”

The two floated up, skirting around the side of the hill and avoiding any of the trees with fairies near them. They reached the top of the hill, and  _ something _ happened to the perspective. One moment they were coming over the side, and all they could see was the empty black sky, and the next, as if it had just remembered to be there, another expanse of blue plains, with valleys and rivers dividing them, suddenly  _ appeared _ beyond the hills. Down at the edges of the rivers, too, were definite signs of settlements -- masses of strange, pale structures with red roofs; roads with pale vehicles travelling along them; carefully divided stretches of farmland, growing odd glowing plants.

Miko almost fell backwards from the sudden shift, and Byakuren caught her. “What… was that…?” she mumbled.

“The rules don’t work right here,” replied Byakuren, with a shaky voice. She’d been less affected than Miko, but it was unpleasant to anyone to have their brain suddenly have to process something like that. “Shinki… once said that she’d had to build them from the ground up, and she’d cut corners.”

“This is a world where even the  _ fundamental rules _ were made by Shinki?”

Byakuren nodded.

Miko smiled. “I’m looking forward to meeting her more and more.”

Byakuren took out her Scroll, and carefully read a few lines out. A group of small red fruits appeared in the air around her, and fell to the ground. Byakuren took one, and began eating it. After a moment, Miko did the same. It was, as promised, almost completely tasteless. The closest equivalent, she mused, would be a peach without the peach.

They agreed to watch whilst the other slept for a few hours -- their unique natures meant that neither of them needed much sleep, but nor could they survive on none at all. The Sun never rose, and the Moon never set. Even the fairies, fluttering about below them, fussing over the strange, crystal fruits, never so much as glanced up at them. It felt like a world that time had left behind -- and Miko, watching and waiting whilst her companion rested, wondered to herself if that was the case, or if Makai’s god had simply never bothered to put time in to begin with. If things just happened here, because they needed to. Cause and effect, without the time to justify them.

And she wondered to herself, not for the first time, and not for the last time, what sort of a person would create a world like this.

* * *

After they’d each slept a few hours, and had eaten more of Byakuren’s fruitless fruits, they entered the fields of Makai.

The blue grass was much the same as before, but whereas the previous day they’d been able to see the hills ahead, the view this time was blocked by a gradual upwards slope. Miko once more considered flight, but something about that sky made her hesitate, made her think that it wouldn’t be a good idea to fly unless it was completely necessary. At the very least, Byakuren had been here before, and she continued to walk, slowly and surely, across the fields; surely there was a reason for that.

They came to the top of the slope, and saw a field of glowing green plants stretching out in front of them, once more blocking the view. Miko leapt up, but all she could see ahead were the plants.

“I can’t see the towns, or the roads, anymore,” stated Miko.

Byakuren frowned thoughtfully. “We should be able to cut through these fields, if we’re still going straight…” she mused. “I’d like to avoid the roads, if we can.”

“Maybe we should cut around the field?” asked Miko. She was looking closely at the plants -- from here, she could see that the strange, spherical fruits they bore were pulsating, and glowing in time with that pulsation. “Even if that takes us onto the roads. In my experience, the roads are generally safer than the fields.”

“That’s only by human standards,” replied Byakuren. “To a youkai, the reverse is true -- you can hide in fields, but not on the roads. Especially Makai’s roads. They’re supposed to be even more dangerous than everything else. And so long as we don’t  _ eat _ any of those fruits, we should be safe. The food of Makai is dangerous, but Shinki never told me anything about being near it…” She paused, looking carefully at the plants. “Though I’ve never seen any that were doing this…”

“Well, we haven’t had a lot of trouble thus far,” said Miko. “For all that I was told of Makai, it’s not so bad.”

“We’ve been lucky,” said Byakuren. “Hopefully, we’ll continue to be lucky. Once we’re through these fields, we’ll need to find someone in town to take us to Pandemonium.”

“There’ll be someone in town who can take us there?”

“There should be, at least.”

Miko nodded, and then paused. “…Why can’t you take us to Pandemonium?”

“I…” Byakuren hesitated. “I don’t know how to get to Pandemonium. I never left Hokkai, after all.”

Miko frowned. “Then why are we going through these fields?”

“Because there  _ should _ be someone there--”

“ _ Should?! _ ” The plants around them began to pulsate faster, bathing Miko’s face in flashing green. “First, you say you don’t know where you’re leading us, and then-- your plan is to find one of the locals you’ve been warning me against this whole time, and  _ ask them for directions?! _ ”

“Do you have a better plan?” asked Byakuren, irritated. “I was asked to come here, and to guide us to Pandemonium, and that’s what I’m  _ doing _ . So unless you want to wander onto the roads and get attacked by whatever’s out there, or wander around aimlessly until we happen to run into Shinki--”

“As opposed to what we’re doing now, where we’re wandering with clear purpose in mind?” Miko laughed bitterly. “I was a fool to trust that you knew what you were doing to  _ begin with! _ How could you  _ possibly _ know where we were going if you’ve never been here?!”

The light was completely green, now; the fruits were shining over the two of them as they glared at each other.

“I know what I’m doing,” insisted Byakuren. “I’m taking us to--”

“Where  _ are _ you taking us, Hijiri? You don’t know. You don’t know where we are. You can’t even  _ see _ where we are from here! You’ve led us into the middle of nowhere on a wild goose’s chase, you stupid, ignorant,  _ Buddhist! _ ”

“ _ You’re the ignorant one, you arrogant Taoist! _ ” yelled Byakuren, eyes bright green. “ _ Go and wander onto the roads! Go get attacked by whatever’s out there, see if I care! And at the end of the day, I’ll have one less rival, just like the satori said! _ ”

Around them, the fruits exploded in a single moment, covering them both in sticky green goo. The light once more faded to that dim blue.

They were silent for a while, after that. They looked at the burst plants, and then back down the slope. Byakuren cast a spell from her Scroll, and the goo coating them both vanished.

“The roads or the fields, then,” Miko said quietly, after she’d done that.

Byakuren nodded. “I apologise for my behaviour,” she said, “but I won’t change my mind. The roads are dangerous.”

“The fields are dangerous, too,” replied Miko. “As we just saw.” She sighed. “There’s only one thing for it, then.”

Byakuren smiled, slightly embarrassed. “Maybe we were getting along too well.”

“I’m not sure we’ve ever gotten along  _ too _ well.” Miko grinned. “And besides, it’s been a while. Standard rules, first to clear six?”

Byakuren nodded. “I accept your conditions. Ready when you are.”

Miko nodded back, and without further hesitation, the two of them leapt into the air above the top of the slope, heedless of the beckoning empty sky. Their eyes were fixed solely on each other; and they were calm, their eyes focused, their breathing steady. Behind each of them appeared a golden, transparent shape -- for Byakuren, it was a set of butterfly wings, with flowers growing at their ends; for Miko, it was a three-petalled flower.

Then, without further hesitation, they began firing danmaku at each other.

* * *

The residents of Makai, working on their farms between the hills and the roads, looked up to see an odd lightshow at the border of their world. A multi-coloured tornado seemed to be colliding with a tornado of pink crystals, intercepting each other and sending stray colours in every direction.

As they watched, the pink tornado suddenly vanished, replaced by a series of brilliant white lasers that tore through the other tornado, which in turn suddenly transformed into a massive shining yellow orb. Both of these, needless to say, were also firing orbs of various colours across the skies of Makai. Those that saw it, curious, ceased in their work, and began wandering towards the lights.

The danmaku battle continued on for almost twenty minutes, long enough for half a dozen of Makai’s residents to gather around the light show, along with a small collection of fairies. A few of them could see the figures inside the swarms of bullets and lights, but most of them were carefully watching the lights themselves, tracking the courses of the various lasers and bullets as they collided with each other and went flying off across their fields.

The occasional burst of light that emerged from the fray and collided with the audience was just part of the fun, to them; and if it took out a few fairies (or one of the residents, at one point, throwing her into the air and out of sight in the blink of an eye), then that was just part of the fun, too.

With an explosion of curling lights, twisting through the air and forming the shapes of stars and threads, as waves upon waves of glittering orbs emerged from the fray and landed across the fields, it ended. A tall figure was flung backwards out of the lightshow and landed on her feet, the butterfly at her back gradually fading. After a moment, every other light vanished, and the other fighter landed opposite her.

“So--” started Miko, then noticed the people standing around -- no, surrounding was a better term --  _ surrounding  _ them.

The residents of Makai -- the first that Miko had encountered -- were all fairly distinct from one another; of varying heights, with different coloured eyes and hair. Several had horns; two had wings; one of them had six pupil-less eyes. All of them were female, and they all had pale, porcelain-esque skin. All of them were watching Byakuren and Miko carefully.

Finally, a blonde-haired girl in a red dress, more human-looking than the rest -- the only indications that she might not be human being short, stubby red horns and only four fingers on each hand -- walked over to them.

AYANA   
Abnormally Normal Makai Resident

“Are you from… outside?” she asked, with something resembling hesitation.

“We are,” said Byakuren, before Miko could say anything. “We’re trying to go to Pandemonium.”

“Are you enemies?” she asked.

“Enemies of Makai?” asked Miko. “Or of each other?”

She shrugged. “Enemies?”

Byakuren and Miko glanced at each other. “We’re friends,” confirmed Miko. “And like my friend said, we’re looking for Pandemonium. We got into an argument over it, but it’s alright now. We just need to meet Shinki.”

“I can take you to Pandemonium,” said another of the residents. She was taller than Byakuren, with long white horns, deep blue hair, and black, bird-like wings, dressed in a shabby coat over a dull brown dress. “Or I can take you to the train, at least.”

MATORI   
Blackbird of the Demon Realm

The others began nodding at this. “The train,” one of them agreed. Then, this matter seemingly resolved, they wandered off into the fields, leaving only the bird-like Matori and the human-like Ayana remaining. Even the fairies flew off, returning to their trees on the hills.

With the others gone, Matori walked closer to the pair, leant down, and examined them closely, her head making odd, bobbing motions as she did. Then, she nodded back at Ayana, who ran over and grabbed Byakuren’s hand, examining it herself.

“You’re… going to take us to the train…?” asked Byakuren, hesitantly.

Matori nodded back. “We’ll take you to the train,” she said. Then, “You’ve been here before. To Makai.”

“I was trapped in Hokkai for a long time,” agreed Byakuren.

“I don’t know where Hokkai is!” said Ayana. “Why did you leave?”

“I’m not from here,” said Byakuren. “Some of my friends came to get me, so I went back with them.”

“Like her?” asked Ayana, pointing at Miko.

“Not like me, unfortunately,” replied Miko. “Our… relationship… is kind of complicated. Are you--”

“We don’t see any outsiders, you know,” interrupted Matori, somewhat dismissively. “But we should probably get used to them. That’s what everyone’s saying, at least.”

“To get used to outsiders?” repeated Byakuren. “Is something coming to Makai?”

Matori shrugged. “No idea. I heard it from the people in town, the people in town hear it from the people on the trains, the people from the trains hear it from someone else. No-one knows where the rumour started, but everyone’s saying we need to get ready for people from outside.”

“There’s something happening in Hell…” Miko muttered to herself. Byakuren glanced at her, and Miko glanced back with a concerned expression. “Something else to ask Shinki. I’m beginning to think there’s more to all this than just a cup.”

Byakuren nodded.

Seemingly satisfied, Matori moved back, and began flapping her wings powerfully, lifting into the air above them. “Follow me,” she said, flying off over the fields. After a moment, a pair of strange white objects, almost horn-like, emerged from Ayana’s waist, and she began to levitate too, floating after the blackbird. The pair of humans shrugged at one another, and flew after them.

They flew over fields of the strange green fruit, and Miko asked what it was.

“Wrath,” Matori replied. “There’s a good crop this season, too.”

“‘Wrath?’” repeated Miko.

“You don’t have wrath where you come from?” asked Matori. “It’s nice. We can drop down so you can try some, if you’d like.”

“I’d rather we didn’t,” said Byakuren, and Matori shrugged. “So, do you two know each other?”

“We’re neighbours!” said Ayana cheerfully. “When I came out here, Matori helped me out! She’s really old!”

“I’m not that old,” muttered Matori. “Nowhere near as old as Shinki. And it’s not like I’m an original, either. People used to joke about that.”

“An original…?” repeated Byakuren. “I don’t think I’ve heard that term before.”

“We don’t know much about Makai,” confessed Miko. “And apparently, Hokkai doesn’t get much in the way of rumours.”

“That’s fine,” replied Matori, whilst Byakuren glared at Miko. “Makai’s been sealed for a very long time, and there’s not a lot of trade. But when Shinki first came here… who knows how long ago that was, there were a few other demons and youkai with her. So the story goes, the world was full of a miasma that was toxic to creatures of pure spirit, and one by one, they all died except for Shinki. Somehow she was immune to the miasma, so she just started building, all by herself, and that’s all she’s been doing since. But people like to say that some of those other demons didn’t die, but just got turned into spirits, and they’re still hanging around. Since they’re not made by Shinki, they’re ‘originals’, which I guess makes the rest of us fakes.”

“And is that true?” asked Miko.

“That there’s originals, haunting this world, their grudges never satisfied?” Matori grinned back at them, revealing sharp teeth. “Doubt it. It’s just a ghost story.”

They passed over the edge of the field of green plants, and began to fly over a field of orange ones instead. These ones shone with a beautiful golden light.

“Your greed’s coming along well, Ayana,” remarked Matori.

“It is!” agreed Ayana. “Hopefully it’ll sell well at the market, too.”

“You’ve just got to look out for thieves,” advised Matori. “That’s what got you last time.”

They kept flying over the fields, Ayana occasionally flying off to the side to inspect the plants. Miko floated next to Matori.

“So, if you know a lot about Makai… other than that story, do you know anything else about Shinki?”

“Not much,” confessed Matori. “Nothing that anyone else couldn’t tell you, at least. She’s the Creator, and she lives in her citadel of crystal, at the centre of the world. But I didn’t spend much time in Pandemonium before coming out here. I don’t know how it is outside, but in Makai, you go where you end up, and that’s where you stay.”

“You’ve never thought about travelling?” asked Miko, somewhat surprised.

“Can’t think of anywhere I’d want to go.” Matori gestured to beyond the edge of Ayana’s field of greed. “Train’s up ahead. I’ll give you a few of my plants to trade for the tickets.”

“That’s very generous of you,” replied Byakuren. “Thank you for your help.”

Matori grinned that sharp grin again. “You’re lucky I was impressed by your lightshow. You’d have had to fight them out of me otherwise, and I doubt you’d be up to it.”

“You’d probably be right,” agreed Byakuren. “At the very least, I try to avoid meaningless battles.”

Matori blinked. “Why?”

“I follow the six Perfections,” said Byakuren. “A part of those is that I do not engage in violence unless I must, nor do I enjoy it when I have to do so. It is part of the path to enlightenment.”

“Like the Sun?” asked Ayana, floating back over. “Everyone says we’re finally going to be getting a Sun soon!”

Byakuren glanced at Matori, and she shrugged back. “Another rumour. Like I said, we’ve been getting a lot of them lately. Anyway, I don’t really get your enlightenment thing, but… good luck with it, I guess?”

They passed over the edge of the field to see a rough line of dirt, a few metres wide, with a series of deep, parallel indents following the path that the dirt formed. The line, and the indents, went as far as they could see in either direction, and disappeared over the irregular slopes.

Matori took out a small bag from her coat, and handed it to Byakuren. “Five kernels of envy,” she said. “Don’t lose them until you give them to the attendant. Train should be here soon, it’s good at knowing when people are waiting for it. Good luck with everything.” She turned and flew off before either could reply.

“Goodbye!” said Ayana cheerfully. “Have fun on the train!” And then she flew off, too.

“Were they typical for residents of Makai?” asked Miko, watching them go.

“I’m not sure,” admitted Byakuren. “I’d met a few residents, but most of the ones who came to Hokkai came there for a reason. Those two were… a bit different to what I got used to. And I’m not sure what to make of everything they said, either. It’s… concerning.”

“I’m concerned about them mentioning outsiders coming to Makai,” agreed Miko. “That could mean a lot of things, and I’m not sure how many of them would be good.”

The sound of a whistle interrupted their conversation, and they turned to see an odd creature approaching from the distance to their left, crawling over the slopes towards them. It seemed to be an immense centipede, but instead of a face, it had a single huge glowing yellow eye on a flat black surface, staring directly ahead. As it drew closer, the head turned towards them, and it began to slow down as they were bathed in the light of its eye. It scuttled slightly past them, looming over them, and settled down onto the ground, its many legs curling underneath it.

Upon its back -- or possibly part of it; it was hard to tell, as both seemed to be made of the same semi-metallic black substance -- were a series of large carriages. As it settled down, a part of one of them swung outwards and downwards, revealing a stairway on its other side. In the doorway that it had created, a woman in a white and purple outfit beamed down at them.

LOUISE   
Conductor of the Demonic Express

“Passengers?” she asked pleasantly. “Where are you travelling to?”

“Pandemonium,” replied Byakuren, and took out the bag. “We’ve got payment.”

She jumped down towards them, took the bag, looked inside it, and grinned. “Oh,  _ very _ nice.” She took out a strange fruit, somewhat like a golden blueberry, and crunched it cheerfully. “Oh, that’s really sweet, too~! Alright, come on, come on! We’ll take you to Pandemonium, for sure~!”

The two of them cautiously climbed up, to find themselves in a large cabin, with a series of empty tables and chairs. To either end were doorways, and windows around it bathed the room in Makai’s permanent blue glow.

“Well, make yourselves at home!” Louise continued. “We don’t usually get many passengers going to Pandemonium, so there’s plenty of seats~! And here,” she said, handing each of them a small black coin with a hole in the centre, “are your tickets! Enjoy your trip on the Makai Express~! I’ve got to get back to steering.”

She turned to one of the doors, and vanished through it. The entrance retracted, and with a surprisingly gentle motion, they began on their way again.

Byakuren and Miko sat by one of the windows, looking out at Makai’s landscape in silence for a while. Multi-coloured fields passed them by.

“I--” started Byakuren.

“You have nothing to apologise for,” interrupted Miko. “You, yourself, warned about the spiritual dangers of Makai. I started that argument, without considering what was happening. And it was my fault for losing my composure.”

“I should have noticed, too,” insisted Byakuren. “The fact that I was unable to prevent us from being affected by a spiritual attack that minor is a failing on my part at least as much as it is on yours. The information I was given by Shinki was incomplete, but that’s no excuse for not being careful.”

“We’ll have to agree to disagree, then,” said Miko. She looked out the window again. “The residents of Makai weren’t what I was expecting.”

“Friendlier?”

“Well, that, but something else.” Miko considered for a moment. “Their desires… they’re all there, but they’re somehow fake. The bird wants to farm, be a good mentor, and protect the area. The girl wants to farm, and make friends. Both of them want to defend their world from intruders. On the surface, there’s nothing wrong with that, but… I suppose I hadn’t considered what it would mean for these people to be  _ made _ . Or what that would mean for how they live. To be trapped in a single role, for eternity…”

“They can’t break out of it?” asked Byakuren, surprised. “I admit, I knew that Shinki created people with some degree of an internal desire, because I knew that she wanted them to live, not just to exist, but…”

“She’s not capable of it,” stated Miko firmly. “I’m certain of that now, after seeing the people she’s made. It’s possible to give an artificial being desires. But it’s impossible to allow that being to form their own desires without placing them into a situation in which their original desires hold no meaning. And so long as everyone stays where they are, that’s never going to happen.”

Byakuren was silent again, for a while. Then she said, quietly, “The same could be said of their creator, too.”

“You still haven’t told me about Shinki, not really,” said Miko. “What was all that about the originals?”

Byakuren shrugged. “I’d never heard it before, like I said. Shinki had told me a few versions of her story, but none like that. There certainly isn’t any miasma here, or we’d both be dead already.”

“Then what was the most… convincing story she told you?”

“Convincing?” replied Byakuren. “She told me once that she was a demon from Hell who was exiled here by the Yamas after committing some terrible sin, and that she’s building Makai so that one day she can have her revenge. I think she’s from Hell. I don’t think the rest of it’s true.”

“Then why  _ is _ she here?”

Byakuren frowned. “I think she blames herself for something. At the very least, I think her exile’s self-imposed. If we were able to get in just by finding a doorway, it’s hard to imagine that she couldn’t leave at any time.”

“I suppose so…” mused Miko. “But then why try to create Makai? Or, why create it in the way that it’s been made? It’s…”

“It’s normal,” finished Byakuren, “but it’s a demon’s idea of normal. It’s a normal world full of nightmares.” She sighed. “I spent a lot of time trying to work Shinki out, but there’s a lot to her. All I can really say is that I think she’s lonely. I don’t think I’ve ever known someone as lonely as she is.”

They were silent again for a moment.

“Do you think there’s any truth to the idea that others came here at the same time as Shinki?” asked Miko.

“Well, if there is… since there’s not really any miasma, that could only mean one thing.”

Miko nodded. “Of course. It just occurs to me that every story that’s told here was created by Shinki, too -- so why would she create  _ that _ one? What does it mean?”

Byakuren’s eyes widened. “Ah, I wonder…” she whispered, and then went silent again, thinking.

Miko watched her for a moment, and then turned her gaze back outside. The fields gave way to an empty plain, and then suddenly the ground beneath them fell away. After a second, Miko realised they must be on a bridge over one of the valleys they had seen from the hillside, and she looked down to see the depths fade away. If there was an end to this gap in the world, it was invisible from here.

The ground returned, but they continued, high above it. Odd shapes moved below them -- what Miko had taken to be vehicles, but which seemed from this close to be animals, strange insectoid creatures that sped around and snapped at each other. Then again, considering what they were currently travelling in, Miko considered that they could be both animals and vehicles. The ground rose up, and once more they were travelling through fields of the magical vegetables.

Miko turned her gaze back to Byakuren.

“What was it like, in Hokkai?” she asked.

Byakuren looked surprised. “It was lonely,” she said calmly. “I thought I’d been abandoned by everyone. If it hadn’t been for Shinki, and the other residents that would visit, I’d probably have been driven mad. As it was, I was simply able to use that solitude to refine my training. If it weren’t Makai, I probably could have reached enlightenment, after spending so long at it, but…” She hesitated. “What was it like, waiting to resurrect?”

It was Miko’s turn to be surprised. “No-one’s asked me that,” she said. “Not even Futo or Tojiko. They both told me that they’d felt lonely, waiting -- Futo told me that she would sometimes sleep for decades, letting the world pass her by as she waited; and Tojiko told me that she would intermittently attack people near the Mausoleum, just to keep herself sane.” She smiled to herself. “That probably contributed to the decision to seal us in the first place.”

“But they didn’t ask about you?”

“They probably thought I could handle it. They have a lot of faith in me. I suppose they’d have to, after what I convinced them to do. I’m still not sure if Futo’s forgiven herself for it.” She was quiet for a moment. “I’d arranged it so that my spirit wasn’t tied to my body whilst it was in there. I wanted to keep an eye on things, to see when it would be a good time to revive. It was frustrating to watch myself be sealed away by those Buddhist monks, powerless to stop it… but it was exciting to watch the Outside World change, too.” She glanced up at Byakuren. “But I had no-one to talk to, so it was lonely, too. I’m glad that I can be around people again. Especially ones that I can trust.”

The insect-train began to slow, and they arrived at another field, settling down into the dirt. Louise jumped out of the door of her carriage, ran through Byakuren and Miko’s and into the next one. The two of them looked out the window, trying to see the other passengers, or whether they were getting on or getting off, but there was no-one out their window -- and as they moved to the other side, they felt the insect-train begin to rise up, and Louise came back through.

She paused as she looked at them, frowning slightly, as if she had just noticed them for the first time and was wondering how they’d gotten aboard her train. Then she smiled. “Can I get either of you anything? Something to eat or drink?”

“We’re fine,” replied Byakuren. “Makai food is bad for my -- our constitution.”

Louise nodded cheerfully. “Well, let me know!” she said, and then disappeared through her door again.

The insect-train travelled onwards, through the fields and over the valleys. In the distance, towns passed -- strange clusters of identical, tall white buildings with red roofs. There didn’t seem to be any lights, or even any visible movement in the towns.

Then they passed over another valley, and the perspective shifted again. Suddenly the towns and fields were gone; the air was filled with gentle snow, and the ground was covered in pale white grass. In the distance, jagged mountains and frozen lakes were visible. There were seemingly no settlements in this area, but then the train turned slightly to move around a hill, and both Byakuren and Miko saw Shinki’s capital for the first time.

Even from this distance, it loomed -- a massive fortress of shining blue crystal sitting upon a large hill, a mish-mash of structures from all across the world surrounded by a sheer crystal wall. A European-style crenellated tower sat next to a Mesoamerican-style stepped pyramid, and a Japanese-style castle next to a modern-looking skyscraper, and above it all rose a single winding structure with a pointed roof, like a wizard’s tower from a storybook.

And then they turned again, and it was hidden from view.

“So that’s Pandemonium,” mused Miko. “It’s…”

“…not what I was expecting,” agreed Byakuren. “But…”

“…it makes sense, I suppose.”

They stared out the window silently again, as the train twisted and turned, giving them closer views of Shinki’s fortress. Between the taller structures, they could see dozens of other buildings peeking over the crystal walls -- seemingly an assortment of every type of building that had ever caught Shinki’s eye. And then they were at the base of the hill, and the view outside was replaced with the same shimmering crystal as the fortress, bathing them in bright blue light.

And then, after perhaps a minute of that tunnel, they came to a stop. The door to their carriage opened as the train-insect settled down onto the crystal. Outside, there was a wide platform, and leading from it was a single doorway, and a stairway leading upwards.

“Well,” Miko said confidently, “let’s go find out what’s really going on here.”


	2. The God of Makai

Atop a tower at the heart of the world, a solitary God tirelessly creates.

* * *

They noticed the smell -- or rather the smells -- first, climbing up that endless spiralling crystal staircase with no end in sight. The smell of something cooking reassured them that there was something they were climbing towards; and then, after only another few circles, they emerged out of the side of a large building, a crystal palace that would have looked impressive anywhere else but was overshadowed by the equally ornate structures all around it, and stood upon the streets of Pandemonium.

It was a world of light and sound and smells, overwhelming every sense. Hundreds of lights -- lamp-posts, lanterns, and even free-floating flames, of dozens of colours -- transformed the blue crystal of the ground and buildings into a world of rainbows, lighting up the stalls arranged across the outside of the buildings. The scents of a thousand foods from a hundred cultures, from Earth, Hell, the Moon, and everything between, filled the air overwhelmingly. And there was chattering, as the stall-owners chatted between one another enthusiastically, eagerly sharing the food that they created. Between the stalls wandered other residents, a diversity of aesthetics giving even more animation to the busy streets.

Byakuren and Miko looked around.

“It looks like a festival,” commented Byakuren. “I wonder if it’s always like this?”

“We can investigate it later,” replied Miko. “For now, we need to get to Shinki.” She pointed, ahead and upwards, at the shape of the irregular tower that loomed above everything, extending into the sky like an arrow aimed at the empty heavens. “I’m guessing she’s in there.”

Byakuren nodded, and the two entered the thinly-spread crowds -- only for everyone to go silent as soon as they did.

As one, the residents of Makai stared at them. Byakuren and Miko slowly walked forwards, still being watched, and then Byakuren suddenly split off and went over to one of the stalls.

“Excuse me,” she asked the silent stall-owner, whilst Miko watched her in surprise, “but what are you cooking there?”

The stall-owner was silent for another moment, and then suddenly everyone began chatting and moving again. She grinned at Byakuren. “It’s just tofu, miss!” she said cheerfully. “I’m trying lots of different curries on it, trying to get it right for when people start arriving!”

“So there  _ are _ people coming to Makai?” asked Miko, walking over. The stall-owner glanced at her in surprise.

“Of course there are!” she said confidently. “We’ve had Miss Yumeko coming around for weeks, trying to get everything ready, making sure we all know what we’re meant to be preparing!” She leaned over to Byakuren, as if sharing a secret with her. “We thought it was you two, since you’re obviously outsiders, but I’m guessing that’s not the case?”

“We didn’t know anything about any of this,” admitted Byakuren. “We came here on unrelated business, to see Shinki.”

The stall-owner nodded. “Well, good luck!” She took a small box from underneath her counter. “And you can try some, if you’d like! It’ll stay good forever!”

Byakuren took the box and smiled. “Thank you. I’ll make sure to let you know what I think.”

She and Miko returned back to the crowd, which was once again moving and chatting, ignoring them.

“Makai tofu…” said Byakuren quietly. She opened the lid, and the two of them gazed upon a few soggy-looking blocks of tofu sitting in an orange curry. She shrugged. “It smells good, at least. Maybe we can try some on our way out.”

“It’s definitely the case that Makai’s opening, though,” remarked Miko. “And it seems to be trying to attract crowds, too…”

“Not just from Earth,” noted Byakuren. “There’s food from Hell over there and there, and I think those are meant to be dumplings from the Lunar Capital. Shinki’s spreading a wide net.”

“I wonder if anyone’s going to come, though,” said Miko quietly. “After all, it’s Makai.”

Around them, the energetic festival atmosphere seemed to change imperceptibly. They could see the flickering confusion in the faces of the stall-owners and the wanderers as they went through the motions without understanding why, and Byakuren realised.

“You’re right,” she said. “It’s not that people are coming to Makai. Shinki wants people to come to Makai. This might…” She hesitated. “…This might be my fault. I think she’s doing this because I left.”

“You can’t blame yourself for that.” They turned a corner, and at the end of a wide avenue, they could see the base of Shinki’s tower. “And besides, we don’t even know that anything bad will happen. Gensokyo opened to lots of places. Maybe this’ll be the same.”

They walked down the avenue, and emerged out of the noise and bustle into sudden silence. The base of Shinki’s tower sat in a wide, open, circular space, but there were no stalls here. None of the other buildings opened onto this space. There was simply a looming blue crystal cylinder that stretched up, and up, as far as one could see. They walked around it, finding a small arc-shaped opening on one side, and went in.

The inside of the tower was completely bare, just more plain crystal; there were no stairs, or any indication of how to reach the top. But that was hardly an issue.

The two of them leapt into the air, and began flying upwards, through endless stretches of uniform blue broken up by the occasional turn as the tower angled itself oddly before returning to being completely vertical. As they flew higher, they began to see fairies in black dresses, flitting around or flying downwards, arms full of crystals, and watching them pass with surprise. None of them made any move to attack though, or even to stop whatever work they were doing.

And then, after a number of twists and turns, they found themselves emerging through a small hole into a room much wider than the base level had been. Dozens more of the black-clothed fairies flitted around large pots with crystals growing out of them, and at the heart of it all, in front of the entrance to this chamber, was a woman sitting next to a wide crystal desk overflowing with papers.

She looked up at them in surprise as they arrived. Sharp golden eyes examined them carefully, analysing everything about them. Then, she stood up, and to their surprise she was dressed in an almost over-cutesy pink maid’s outfit. She frowned at them, and asked sharply, “Who are you?”

YUMEKO   
Demon-Made Demonic Maid

“My name is Hijiri Byakuren, and this is Toyosatomimi no Miko.” She smiled pleasantly. “You must be Yumeko, Shinki’s maid?”

Yumeko’s suspicious glare didn’t waver. “I am, yes,” she said. “Why are you here? I hope you’re not going to bother Lady Shinki! She’s  _ very _ busy right now!”

“Excuse me,” said Miko, “but it’s extremely important that we see Lady Shinki. We were sent from outside to discuss important business with her.”

“But--” started Yumeko.

“It could be for the good of all Makai!” declared Miko. Byakuren raised an eyebrow. “And imagine what would happen if Lady Shinki found out you’d turned us away! That could cause problems! And that’d be even more work for her!”

Yumeko hesitated. “But--” she tried again.

“It really is very important,” agreed Byakuren. “And it shouldn’t take  _ too _ long.”

Yumeko glanced around. “I-- I’ll go check--” And she ran to the side of the room, slipped in a gap in the wall that neither Byakuren nor Miko had even noticed, and vanished.

“I’m guessing you saw her desires,” said Byakuren.

“She’s more complex than the others,” said Miko, “but not that much more. She wants to help Shinki; and she wants Makai to flourish. She’s also… not particularly smart, it seems.”

Yumeko poked her head around the gap. “Uh--” she started. “Lady Shinki says that it’s okay for you two to go meet her--”

Byakuren walked over to her cheerfully. “Thank you for your help, Yumeko,” she said. “I’ll make sure to tell Shinki that you did a good job here.”

Yumeko’s eyes lit up brightly. “Uh-- thank you--” she stuttered, and then looked back over at her desk. “I need to get back to work--”

“Good idea,” agreed Miko. “Is Shinki’s room just down here?”

Yumeko nodded, edging past them back to her desk. “There’s nothing up there but Shinki’s rooms, so--”

“Thank you very much,” said Miko.

The gap in the walls led to a small spiralling staircase, but it seemed to lead up only one level before emerging in an even wider room than the one below; in fact, room was almost a disingenuous description.

Shinki’s room was the size of a football pitch, if not even wider; filled with more of the crystals in pots, as well as dozens of sculptures, desks overflowing with notes, and abandoned tools. The walls and ceiling were covered with paper, hundreds of thousands of notes on anatomy, on geography, on architecture, and on anything else that might be needed to build a world from scratch.

At the heart of it all sat a table -- but again, ‘table’ was a poor description. It was easily fifty feet across, perfectly circular, and sitting atop it was what could only be a scale model of Makai itself.

Standing nearby, a woman with white hair, dressed in a red coat, moved carefully around a blue crystal sculpture that shone with an internal light, moving her hands over its surface with incredible caution, smoothing out cracks and forming features from nothing. It was hypnotic to watch -- with delicate care, three eyes were shaped on the face, and the figure paused for a moment, before tapping each one, and they lit up a bright green.

All three eyes turned to face Byakuren and Miko, and the figure turned too; and as she did, the light within the sculpture went dull, and the eyes went blank. She blinked at them in surprise, her shining silver eyes flicking between them.

Then she smiled widely, and laughed in amazement.

“Byakuren?” she asked. “You’ve come back?”

SHINKI   
Architect-God of the Notorious Demon Realm

“I--”

Shinki ran over to them. She was shorter than Miko had been expecting; she was around five feet tall, and skinny. The god grinned up at Byakuren. “Oh, Byakuren, where have you been? What have you been doing? How did you get out of Hokkai? I’ve got all kinds of things to tell you -- how long are you going to be here? Can you stay? Can--”

“Shinki,” interrupted Byakuren, quietly, “I’ll answer all of those questions, but I was sent here to ask something of you by someone else.”

“Someone else?” repeated Shinki, surprised.

Byakuren nodded. “We were asked by Komeiji Satori to retrieve a cup for her.”

Shinki’s smile froze. “A cup…” she muttered. “Her cup… but she should know… or did I not tell her… no, I’m certain I told her…” She frowned, and glanced up at Byakuren with a very different expression, a suspicious, calculating one. “What did she tell you about the cup?”

“She…” Byakuren tried to think back. “She said… I think she just said that it was invaluable, to you and to her.”

“Ah,” said Shinki, and then smiled weakly. “I’m afraid you’ve been sent on a fool’s errand. I don’t have it anymore. It was stolen from me, about two years ago, by one of my creations.”

“One of your creations stole something from you?” asked Miko.

“She stole a lot of things from me, actually,” sighed Shinki. “I had a nice collection of magical artifacts, too, and she took most of them and disappeared. I keep meaning to look for her, but… so much to do, so much to do…”

“What  _ are _ you doing, Shinki?” asked Byakuren. “Opening up Makai… you never expressed any interest in that whilst I was here.”

Shinki looked embarrassed. “I… I heard about things happening outside. The world seemed like it was ready for…” She paused. “No, it… that is to say, Hell…”

“Something is happening in Hell,” said Miko quietly. Shinki nodded at her.

“There’s an upheaval. Very political,” confirmed Shinki. “But because of that, people are starting to move around a lot more than they used to. So I thought I’d take advantage of that and try to attract people here. We used to get magicians training here, a few decades back, but with the drought in magic on Earth, there’s not so much lately… So I thought I’d try to change Makai’s image! I’m going to welcome anyone who wants to come here to visit!”

“Why?” asked Miko. “What do you have to gain?”

Shinki blinked. “That should be obvious. I’m going to take the things they bring, and the things they tell me, and add them to Makai. If I don’t have new material, I can’t create things, can I?” She turned back to Byakuren. “Enough about me! Byakuren, you’ve got to tell me everything!”

“I was in Gensokyo,” replied Byakuren simply. “Some of my followers broke through Hokkai’s seal and rescued me. Since then, I’ve been running a Buddhist Temple in Gensokyo, trying to spread the wisdom of Buddhism to the youkai.”

“Oh, very good!” declared Shinki enthusiastically. She glanced over at Miko, who was examining the god carefully. “And who’s your girlfriend?”

There was a drawn-out pause.

“SHE’S NOT--”

“I’M DEFINITELY NOT--”

“I ASSURE YOU--”

“ME AND HER--”

“Ah, I see,” said Shinki calmly. She nodded to herself. “So it’s like that. But that’s alright, then.” She turned back to the sculpture. “Do you mind if I quickly finish this? After that, we can have something to eat upstairs, and we can answer each other’s questions.”

Shinki turned back to her work, leaving the two of them watching her work in silence.

Finally, Miko said, quietly, “ _ That’s _ the god of Makai?”

Byakuren sighed. “That’s definitely Shinki.”

“She’s not what I was expecting.”

“I can hear you~” said Shinki, in an odd, sing-song voice, still working on her sculpture.

Miko walked a bit further away, and continued, “I can’t get a read on her. At all.”

“Like with Satori?” asked Byakuren.

Miko shook her head. “This is different. With Satori, there was just nothing. With the residents of Makai, it’s simple desires, easy to read. With Shinki, it’s like… trying to read a book in a dozen different languages that keeps changing. I can’t even work out if she has all ten of the base desires or not.”

“Really?” asked Byakuren, surprised. “So what  _ can _ you work out about her?”

“She’s old,” said Miko. “She’s older than any of the other gods I’ve met. And I don’t think she’s from Hell, either. I don’t know  _ what _ she is.”

“I’m Shinki!” the god declared cheerfully, without looking over at them. “That’s all you need to know about me.”

Miko walked a bit further away again.

Byakuren sighed. “We’re not here to work out Shinki’s origin,” she said. “We need to work out what to do now; if we stay and try to find the cup, or if we leave. Shinki should be able to take us back, if we asked.”

Miko was quiet for a moment. “Satori knew about this,” she said finally. “She knew the cup was stolen -- and she probably knew that Makai was opening up. She wanted someone to find out what was happening, and she couldn’t send any youkai in, so she sent us. We’ve been set up. But--”

“But?”

Miko smiled ruefully. “But I want to know what’s going on, too. She was right about that, unfortunately.”

“I want to know what’s going on as well,” said Byakuren. “I want to know about this cup, and these artifacts, and whoever stole them. I didn’t think it was  _ possible _ for Shinki to be betrayed by one of her own creations, so either she’s hiding something, or something else strange is going on.”

“Hey, Byakuren~!” yelled Shinki. “Red or blue, what do you think?”

“The red mantle or the blue mantle?” asked Miko. Shinki grinned over at them.

“That’s it, that’s exactly it~!” she said cheerfully. “Choose wisely, humans!”

“Violet, then,” replied Byakuren. “A combination of both.”

Shinki’s grin grew wider, and she returned to her work.

The sculpture’s three eyes shone green. Its hair, a lustrous violet, fell down its back. As they watched, the rough crystal was shaped into a dress, and then a coat over it. Block-like hands were shaped into claws. Four small horns were added, and then a pair of bat-like wings. It was given solid, black boots. And then Shinki took a step backwards, and took a small book from her coat, and looked at the sculpture.

“Your name is Seira!” she declared, writing in the little book with her finger, and with a crackling sound, the sculpture suddenly became pale, porcelain flesh, stepping off its plinth and looking around. “If you just go downstairs, Yumeko will help you get accustomed! Now, next is--”

“Shinki,” interrupted Byakuren, and Shinki blinked at her in surprise, as the new Makai resident wandered past them.

Then she grinned. “I almost forgot, sorry! Alright, let’s talk about what we need to talk about, I suppose. You’re  _ sure _ you can’t stay?”

“I’ve got responsibilities back in Gensokyo,” said Byakuren. “As does Miko.”

“A shrine maiden?” asked Shinki, then put her finger on her chin thoughtfully. “Hmm… a shrine maiden, perhaps…”

“I didn’t introduce myself,” said Miko. “My name is Toyosatomimi no Miko.”

“Oh, it’s you! I was wondering who you were.” Shinki took out her book again and scribbled something into it. “Anyway, follow me!”

Shinki began confidently walking away, towards the opposite side of the room to where they’d come in, and, much like the level below, slipped past a part of the wall to a small staircase, leading upwards.

The stairway led into a small hallway, notably made of wood. Several closed doors, also wooden, were on either side, but Shinki led them to the end, opening the final door into a small room lit by candles in each corner, with a single round table in the centre surrounded by a dozen chairs.

Miko had an odd, thoughtful expression on her face, and asked as they were sitting down, “This place isn’t in the tower in Pandemonium, is it?”

“It’s above it,” confirmed Shinki. “This is my private apartment, after all, and I wouldn’t want just  _ anyone _ to be able to get into it.”

“…How does that work, exactly? If it’s above it, but it’s not on top of it…? It’s not visible from the outside, at least.”

Shinki shrugged. “It’s just above it,” she said. “Is it important?”

Miko considered. “Not as important as everything else, no.”

Shinki nodded back. “Then everything’s alright. Anyway, I’ll have Yumeko prepare you both something! You don’t have any allergies, Miko…?”

“Just so long as you don’t serve us Makai food, we should be fine,” Byakuren answered, before Miko could. “I doubt something like an allergy would cause any problems for such a talented hermit.”

“Of course, of course,” said Shinki. “Yumeko will be bringing something shortly, then~!” Her friendly expression faded, and that serious glint in her eyes returned. “To business, then?”

Byakuren and Miko nodded. “To start with, about the cup--” started Byakuren.

“You want to know who took it, and if you can get it back? There’s nothing in Pandemonium that I can’t hear if I want to, but I’m glad you’d still like to help.” She frowned. “Hopefully, that doesn’t mean that I’ll owe Satori, or anything like that, for getting the two of you here. But yes, my creation! One of my earliest. Extremely powerful. Her job was to kill residents!”

“…Huh?”

“Why… would you want her to kill residents…?” asked Byakuren.

Shinki blinked. “Well, it was before I’d gotten the aging working right, so sometimes I’d end up with residents who’d lived too long and stopped working right! So she’d go in and cut them up into little bits and bring them back here! For recycling, you see. It’s very economical. But a couple of years ago she began acting up, so I was going to switch her off. But she must have figured out that I was going to, so she went and woke up some of my other old creations, and they ran off with a bunch of artifacts! They were gone before anyone even realised anything had happened!” She sighed. “Yumeko was so embarrassed, too… but it wasn’t her fault.”

“Didn’t you say she destroyed your old creations for you?” asked Miko.

“Not  _ all _ of them,” clarified Shinki. “Some of them were still too good to just throw away like that, so I just switched them off and kept them down the hall!”

Byakuren and Miko glanced at each other, but before they could say anything, Yumeko entered. She placed a wine glass filled with a bubbling blue liquid in front of Shinki, and two glasses of a transparent liquid in front of Byakuren and Miko, then left without a word.

Byakuren took a sip. “It’s just water,” she said to Miko. Then, back to Shinki, “Do you know where she’s gone? If she took a few others, then is she planning something, or…?”

“No idea if she’s planning anything,” replied Shinki, drinking her blue drink, “but I know where she’s gone. It’s just… a real pain to get there. It’s an old part of Makai, out on the outskirts past Hokkai.”

“She’s  _ there _ ?” replied Byakuren, surprised. “But… there’s  _ nothing _ there!”

Shinki shrugged. “That’s where she’s been for the past two years. After this, I’ll get people to take you over there.” She sipped her drink again, and looked directly at Miko. Somehow, that sharp silver gaze made her feel even more uncomfortable than Satori’s had. “You have something you want to ask me.”

“The outsiders,” said Miko simply. “I want to know where you came from.”

Shinki finished her drink, and laughed cheerfully. “I come from Makai!” she declared. “I’ve been here for longer than humanity’s existed! When the other gods were just beginning to name things, I was already hard at work building this world! And when they’ve all faded away, forgotten by their own creations, Makai will continue to exist!”

“Is that true?” asked Miko.

Shinki grinned. “In Makai, what I say goes~” she replied. “Therefore, it must be the truth~!” She paused, and her grin faded. “As for the outsiders… I came here alone. No-one was with me when I began work on Makai. I remember that much.”

Miko frowned. “Do you… not remember your own origins?” she asked.

“Do you remember when you were born?” the god snapped. “Every last detail, from the instant you came into this world to this very moment?”

Miko was silent.

“Shinki,” said Byakuren, “she didn’t mean any offense. She’s just been very curious about you, this whole time. We have gods in Gensokyo, but they’re not really like you are.”

Shinki smiled again. “There are gods in Gensokyo?” she asked enthusiastically. “Byakuren, you’ve got to tell me! Tell me everything there is to know about Gensokyo! Miko, you too! I’m sure you both know lots of different things!”

For the next ten minutes, Byakuren and Miko, occasionally speaking over one another, attempted to explain the workings of Gensokyo, the humans, youkai, gods, and otherwise that lived there. Shinki listened, enraptured, completely silent, until finally Yumeko brought in a series of meals on trays.

“Yumeko!” said Shinki cheerfully. “Did you know that in Gensokyo, there’s a purple youkai god who can open gateways between worlds and sends shrine maidens to assassinate religious rivals?”

“A youkai god?” repeated Yumeko faithfully, waiting next to her with the trays carefully balanced in her hands. “So, is she worshipped by youkai…?”

“Must be,” mused Shinki. “I wonder if she makes youkai, too… maybe if I invited her over, she could make some youkai for me! Oh, I’ve never had a creation contest before!”

“I… don’t believe that Yukari can create youkai,” said Byakuren. Shinki looked crestfallen, so she added, “There’s apparently a new god from hell, though, who can craft people out of clay and give them souls.”

“Oh!” exclaimed Shinki. “I’ve definitely got to meet her! Next time you see her, make sure to send her to visit me!”

“I’ll make sure to do that,” said Byakuren confidently. “Though I haven’t… actually met her at all yet. Miko, have you met her?”

“I’d like to,” said Miko, “but I haven’t yet. I had a few of the beast spirits invite me down there, though.”

“Oh?” asked Byakuren, as Yumeko placed a tray in front of her -- a collection of bowls of Japanese vegetarian cuisine, but with a centrepiece that was a large bowl of steaming orange-ish broth. She swirled it with her chopsticks, slightly suspicious. Pale noodles floated to the top. “What did they want from you?”

“Apparently,” replied Miko, as Yumeko placed her tray in front of her -- her smaller bowls had much richer Japanese food, but the centrepiece was the same orange broth, with the exception that there was a large piece of crumbed meat dropped into it at an angle with no regard for presentation, “my, uh… my horse is their leader.”

“Your horse? I didn’t realise you had a horse.”

“I had a horse whilst I was alive,” said Miko. “A really good one, too. But there’s some kind of war going on between the different factions, and apparently my horse’s spirit is the leader of one of the factions. They invited me down because they thought that I’d help them get the upper hand on the other factions.”

“And you turned them down?”

Yumeko placed Shinki’s tray in front of her. Her bowls were all filled with the unusual fruits of Makai, and the centrepiece of her meal was a large bowl of a bubbling black liquid, which she began digging into with evident glee.

“I didn’t want to get involved,” stated Miko. “A dispute in Hell should stay in Hell, as far as I’m concerned. And if she wants my help, she can ask me in person.”

“In horse, you mean.”

Miko stared at Byakuren, who had managed to say that with a completely straight face, and the monk stared back. For a long moment, they held each other’s gaze, until they both began laughing quietly.

“I’ve never heard you laugh before,” said Shinki quietly.

Byakuren glanced at her. “I--”

“No, no need to apologise!” interrupted Shinki. “Makai is…” She hesitated. “It’s Makai. Especially over in Hokkai, especially being sealed there, not able to go home. It’s just… nice to hear you laugh.” She smiled weakly. “I’m glad you’re able to be happy in Gensokyo, with your partner.”

“Rival,” corrected Miko. “We’re business rivals, not business partners.”

“Aren’t they the same thing?” replied Shinki, with what seemed like genuine curiosity.

After a moment, both Byakuren and Miko realised they didn’t have a good response that wouldn’t confuse the issue further, so the meal continued in silence.

At the end of the meal, as Shinki was finishing her food, she smiled at them both.

“So, what did you think?” she asked.

“Of the food?” asked Miko.

Shinki nodded. “Of course! I worked hard on it, so I’m looking for feedback!”

“You prepared these…?”

“Oh, no! I made them! Almost from scratch, if you don’t count that I was copying from something that already existed.” She frowned to herself. “It was a lot more difficult than usual… trying to get all the little particles right, but I think I got it…?”

“I couldn’t tell it  _ was _ food from Makai,” confessed Byakuren, “so I think you did a good job of it.”

Shinki beamed. “I’m glad, I’m glad! I remember how you reacted to Makai food, so I thought, if I’m going to be inviting people here, I need to make food that they can eat, too! I still don’t know what the problem with Makai food is…”

“It’s spiritual poison, Shinki,” said Byakuren, with a tone that made Miko think she’d explained this before. “It infects the soul, twisting the desires of those that consume it. It’s anathema to anything from outside of Makai.”

“It’s a real shame, though,” replied Shinki, taking one of the remaining Makai vegetables from her bowls and crunching it. “They’re really nice, once you’re used to them.”

“That’s just because you made them to your own tastes,” explained Byakuren. “And you’re a god.”

“I suppose you’re right…” mused Shinki. She tapped the table, and Yumeko walked in almost instantly. “My dear Yumeko,” she instructed, “could you tell the guides to come to the Tower, now? Now that we’ve had our meal, there’s only a few more preparations left, after all.” She glanced at Byakuren and Miko. “Unless you think otherwise…?”

“I don’t think we can do much without knowing more about the situation,” replied Miko. “You haven’t told us much about your rogue creation, or the others with it, or the artifacts it took, or--”

“Your guides can tell you about those,” replied Shinki dismissively. She smiled back at Yumeko. “We should be alright, then!” Then, as the maid hurried out, she stood up, and placed her hand on the wall behind her, and a segment of it swung open, revealing a view of the empty space at the base of her tower. She gestured for the two to follow, and walked through.

After a moment, the pair followed, and emerged outside next to Shinki. The tower behind them was as featureless as ever, aside from the single archway slightly out of sight to their left. Directly ahead of them, a gap in the buildings opened into the bustling, colourful world of Pandemonium, but the sound was somehow muffled in this empty place.

Two girls were waiting for them -- a blue-haired, blue-eyed girl in a pink dress, and a blonde-haired, yellow-eyed girl in a red dress. Both appeared to be in their early twenties, and their warm skin marked them as distinct from the porcelain residents of Makai. They bowed to Shinki as she emerged, and she smiled back, then turned back to Byakuren and Miko.

“These are Mai and Yuki,” she said. “They’re Magicians from outside, but they’ve been here for ages, and they’re always happy to do me a favour! They’ll guide you to the ruins.”

SHIJIKI MAI and SHIJIKI YUKI   
Paired Magicians of Frozen Heart and Blazing Soul

“Mai, Yuki,” instructed Shinki, still with that same, pleasant tone, “kill them.”

It wasn’t  _ possible _ for Byakuren to have reacted so quickly to that. Before the syllables had even hit Miko’s ears, the monk had already leapt forwards, grabbing her and running up the side of the nearest building at incredible speed. By the time Miko had processed the statement, they were at the top, and she had just enough time to see a massive jagged arrow-shaped block of ice collide with where they had both stood less than a second ago, and then Byakuren was still running, and didn’t stop until they were half a dozen buildings away.

“You were--” started Miko, and then began coughing, the impact of having moved at such speed hitting even her trained lungs with unpleasant force.

“I was expecting it,” confirmed Byakuren. “I was expecting something like it, and the two of them are Makai’s most powerful Magicians. They’re extremely devoted to Shinki, too.”

“So she’s-- trying to murder us--?”

“I think it’s… more like a test,” Byakuren hesitantly replied. “She wants us to incapacitate them without killing them. If we kill them, they can’t guide us. If we can’t beat them, they kill us.”

Miko laughed weakly. “I’d almost forgotten who we were dealing with.”

Byakuren was watching the rooftops. “It doesn’t seem like they’re following us…” She sighed. “Shinki probably wants to see our Spell Cards, too. So, they’re going to wait for us to get back in view of her.”

“She’s trying to murder us because she wants to see our Spell Cards?”

“Is that  _ that _ surprising?”

Miko considered. “…Alright, so what can you tell me about those Magicians? We can’t rush in there without a plan, and if we’re going to plan, I need to know what you do.”

“Well… they’re devoted to each other, kind of. I think they’re  _ probably _ married, but it’s hard to tell with them.”

“I… meant about their attacks.”

Byakuren glanced back at her. “I was getting to that, but you need to understand. If we take them out, we have to take them out at the same time. Defeating one just causes the other to become irrational, using much more dangerous magic and making it much harder to defend and attack at the same time. As for their personal specialities… they explained to me once that they deal with ‘vibrations’, where Yuki makes the air vibrate more and Mai makes the air vibrate less, but… functionally, Yuki uses fire magic, and Mai uses ice magic.”

“Alright,” said Miko. “I think I have an idea.”

* * *

The two Magicians stood on either side of Shinki, who was scanning the tops of the buildings, still beaming.

“I didn’t think they’d run off,” remarked Yuki. “You sure these two are the right ones?”

“You’re doubting Shinki, after all this time?” asked Mai derisively.

“I’m not doubting Shinki,” said Yuki.

“Then what  _ are _ you doing?”

“I’m just… uh…”

“They’re coming,” stated Shinki cheerfully. “A good warrior knows when to withdraw and when to attack. Heads up!”

A sudden dense flurry of rainbow orbs flew over the building Shinki was watching, slamming into the ground around her. Yuki and Mai each leapt to one side, whilst Shinki herself vanished amidst the glow. Then, without a moment to pause, a rushing figure emerged from  _ within _ the lights, tackling Mai and throwing her backwards. Yuki spun instantly, only for a mass of golden lasers to emerge from the rooftops, cutting her off from Mai.

Shinki, seemingly totally unaffected by Miko’s attack, began clapping. “Oh, that was great!” she declared. “Mai, Yuki~! Finish them off for that wonderful display!”

With a rapid gesture, five white lasers emerged from Mai’s hands, surrounding Byakuren and trapping her in place as, with a second gesture, the air around her solidified into dozens of razor-sharp icicles that shot towards the monk -- but Byakuren jumped up with superhuman speed, narrowly dodging the edge of the lasers and hanging in mid-air for less than an instant, before kicking off Mai’s own icicles to jump even higher, floating weightlessly in the air above the other magician.

On the other side of the tower, Yuki had made similar gestures, and the air around her had ignited instantly, sending columns of flame towards Miko, as she then began spinning rapidly, irregular bolts of fire mixing between the open flames to create an inescapable labyrinth -- but Miko was no longer taken by surprise, and she effortlessly weaved through the barrage, until she floated right in front of the startled Yuki, and grabbed the hilt of her sword.

“Heaven Sign!”

“Hermit Sign!”

And everything was still.

“Master of the Great Trichiliocosm!” declared Byakuren.

“Taoist of the Land of the Rising Sun!” declared Miko.

And things began to move again -- as, simultaneously, Byakuren shot through the air and collided with Mai, and the light of Miko’s sword as she withdrew it became a shockwave, directed straight at Yuki; the two Magicians flew in opposite directions; and with thuds that echoed around the empty space, they hit the crystal walls of Pandemonium, and their magic vanished instantly.

Byakuren and Miko landed back on the ground.

“That was surprisingly easy,” remarked Byakuren. “I thought it’d take a few more to keep them down…”

“I suppose, when you don’t have the Spell Card rules to keep you from settling it all at once, there’s nothing limiting them,” mused Miko. She waved her arm around a bit. “I do think that felt a bit more powerful than usual, though…”

Shinki was still applauding. “Oh, that was fantastic! That was really fantastic!” she declared enthusiastically. “You’re both really strong, huh!”

Yuki pulled herself off the ground weakly. “I can… still take them…” she mumbled. “They just got me by surprise…” She stumbled again, falling back against the wall.

“We took them by surprise,” said Mai, who was still prone, “and we didn’t get them. They beat us, that’s fair.”

“You don’t have to kill them anymore,” clarified Shinki. “I would still like you to take them to the ruins, though!”

Byakuren walked over to Mai, offering a hand. After a moment, Mai grabbed it, hauling herself up and dusting herself off.

Behind Shinki, part of the tower’s wall faded slightly, and Yumeko emerged. She whispered something into Shinki’s ear, and the god nodded. “Sorry, everyone~” she said. “Yumeko says I’ve got to go back to work now~!”

“It’s important,” the maid added. “There’s still a lot of things on today’s schedule, too…”

“You two know what you’re doing?” Shinki asked, glancing at Byakuren and Mai to one side, and Miko and Yuki to the other. It was unclear who, exactly, she was talking to.

“Yes,” stated Mai.

“Actually, I still have questions--” started Miko.

“Excellent!” declared Shinki enthusiastically. “Well, good luck! I’ll see you soon!”

With Yumeko following, she turned and walked into the tower. The wall solidified behind her.

There was silence for a moment, and then Mai said, “We should get going.”

Byakuren nodded.

Miko sighed. “If we’re not getting anything more out of Shinki,” she remarked, “then we should, yes. How far is it?”

“An hour or so to Hokkai by train, and then a bit longer after that to get to the ruins.” Mai nodded towards one of the avenues leading out of the empty space around the tower. “This way. And Yuki, pull yourself up or we’ll leave you behind.”

“Yup!” called Yuki, who immediately began running after the other Magician.

Miko walked up next to Byakuren, and began watching their two guides carefully. Byakuren glanced at her.

“What do you think?” she asked.

“We were lucky to end it in one shot,” replied Miko. “They’re strong, despite their eccentricities.”

“In my experience, all Magicians are eccentric,” said Byakuren.

“That’s true.” She was quiet for a moment. “Mai and Yuki… Excuse me!” she called, and the Magicians glanced back. “I haven’t introduced myself.”

“The instructions Shinki gave us said that you were a shrine maiden.”

“I-I’m not a shrine maiden,” replied Miko, bemused. “My name is Toyosatomimi no Miko, also known as Prince Shoutoku.”

“You’re a prince?” asked Yuki, whilst Mai’s eyes widened in surprise. “You don’t look like one.”

“You ignorant fool,” muttered Mai. “Don’t you remember anything about history? Prince Shoutoku invented Buddhism!”

“I didn’t--” started Miko, frowning.

“He could listen to a dozen conversations at once,” continued Mai, “and with his flying horse, he spread Buddhism all over the country, and summoned demons to defeat all his enemies! He’s the reason Japan’s as prosperous as it is, you dolt!”

Yuki was quiet for a moment. “How come he’s still alive, then?”

“He probably used dark Buddhist magic, the same as Byakuren did.”

“It wasn’t--” started both Byakuren and Miko, simultaneously.

“Didn’t she call herself a Taoist, though?” asked Yuki, confused. “I think she called herself a Taoist whilst she hit me with her sword. Maybe it’s another Prince Shoutoku?”

Mai frowned. “I don’t think there were other Prince Shoutokus… you’re Prince Shoutoku, right?”

Miko seized the opportunity. “I am  _ definitely _ Prince Shoutoku, yes. And I’m alive because I used Taoist magic, not… dark Buddhist magic…? I only used Buddhism for political reasons.”

The Magicians nodded at this. “Makes sense,” stated Yuki. “Is the other stuff true?”

“I never summoned demons to defeat anyone,” said Miko, “but yes, I can listen to a dozen conversations, and yes, I had a flying horse.”

“Cool…” said Yuki, and then grinned. “Can I get your autograph?”

“What would you do with her autograph?” asked Mai dismissively.

“I’ll take it back to Japan, burn it so that it looks really old, and sell it!”

“I’m not giving you my autograph if you’re just going to sell it,” said Miko.

“You were going to give it to her if she wouldn’t?” asked Byakuren. Miko shrugged.

“Actually, if you  _ are _ Prince Shoutoku,” asked Mai, “why aren’t you old?”

“I resurrected by turning myself into a shikaisen,” explained Miko. “One of the benefits of that is that I was able to choose my appearance. I will remain looking like this until the next time I choose to reincarnate myself.”

“Why’d you look human, then?” asked Yuki.

“I… wanted to look human…?” replied Miko weakly.

Both Magicians frowned at this. “If you say so,” said Yuki. “Sounds lame to me.”

Miko opened her mouth to reply, closed it when she realised she had no response, opened it to try anyway, and then closed it a final time.

Byakuren, keeping pace with her, smiled pleasantly. “They used to visit me along with Shinki, sometimes,” she said. “I never got used to it either.”

The two Magicians stopped in front of Pandemonium’s crystal skyscraper, and turned into it. Solid crystal doors swung inwards as they approached, revealing an empty room with a spiral stairwell in the centre.

Once more, the stairs seemed to go on forever, before ending suddenly at a platform identical to the one that they had seen when they arrived at Pandemonium, complete with its own centipede-train. It looked down at them with its single shining eye as they approached.

A door on the front-most carriage opened, extending outwards into a small staircase, but no-one appeared. Whoever this train’s conductor was wasn’t as social as Louise had been, it seemed. But the rooms were identical, and the four of them sat down at a larger table, towards the back.

“Alright,” said Miko, as the train began to move on its way, “now you’re going to tell us about where we’re going.”

“The ruins of Vina?” replied Mai. “What about them?”

“Well, how about, how does Makai even  _ have _ ruins? It was all made by Shinki.”

“They were an experiment,” explained Byakuren, and Miko turned to face her. “I told Shinki about my faith, and she… decided she would bring religion to Makai. Built a whole bunch of temples, and then changed her mind. Dumped them all in the one place, Vina, and left them there. I don’t know if they’re ruins, but…”

“They’re definitely ruins,” interrupted Yuki. “We go there occasionally, and they’re mostly in pieces. Some really nasty demons out there, too.” She grinned. “Good for target practise.”

“Not that it helps,” remarked Mai. “But that’s why it’s odd that the runaway has gone there. There’s nothing  _ out _ there. You’d think, if she was going to attempt something with all the stuff she took, she’d head somewhere where she could actually gather magic, or followers, or the like.”

“Can you tell us about the runaway, then?” asked Byakuren. “Shinki explained what she was, but not much more than that.”

“We know as much as you do,” said Mai. “Or maybe even less. We’re not headed out there to deal with her, though. We’re guiding you there, dealing with anyone that gets in your way, and leaving again. Right, Yuki?”

“Of course, of course!” Yuki replied unconvincingly. “I mean, why would we want to fight one of Shinki’s strongest creations, right? That’d be--”

“ _ Yuki. _ ”

“Yes, Mai.”

The scenery outside shifted as they passed out of the snowy world surrounding Pandemonium, and suddenly they were travelling high above a crimson ocean, dotted with irregular islands covered with Makai’s blue grass. Unlike the fields they’d seen when they’d entered, these seemed almost uninhabited, but they gradually saw signs of residents as whatever bridge they were on sloped downwards -- a small building on one of the larger islands, a small boat in the middle of the water, and as they got closer, the shadows of humanoid figures on the edges of the water, seemingly fishing.

The centipede hit the ground, and suddenly the scenery was a blur of red and blue.

“So anyway,” asked Yuki, “what were those attacks you used? The ones where you called out their names?”

“Those were Spell Cards,” said Byakuren. “They’re a rule that was established in Gensokyo to prevent squabbles from being too risky. Essentially, we’re permitted to use extremely powerful attacks, but are restricted to only using those attacks until we’re either defeated or defeat our opponent.” She smiled weakly. “But I hadn’t considered the effect that Makai’s, and especially Pandemonium’s, atmosphere would have on such an attack.”

“Does kicking me in the stomach count as a magical attack?” scowled Mai.

“It does if it’s magically-boosted,” said Miko, “and you seemed completely fine afterwards.”

“I  _ am _ completely fine,” agreed Mai, “but it’s the thought that counts. That said, that might not be a bad idea… especially the non-lethal element. It’d mean that I can actually train against Yuki, for one thing.”

“We battle against each other all the time?” asked Yuki, confused.

“Yes, but if we’re doing it non-lethally, we can do it when we’re not having a fight, too,” explained Mai.

“Oh, that’d be cool!” said Yuki enthusiastically. Then, turning to Byakuren, “So, you just have to come up with an attack, and a name?”

“Kind of…?” replied Byakuren. “Miko, do you remember the explanation of the Spell Card rules you were given?”

Miko thought for a moment. “I believe it was, ‘I don’t like your attitude, so sign this and then I’ll beat you up.’”

“That’s what I remember, too…” sighed Byakuren. “Do you ever wonder if more would get done in Gensokyo if the Shrine Maiden were more reliable?”

“Probably not,” replied Miko.

“I thought you were the Shrine Maiden?” asked Mai, and Miko sighed, again.

The constant sound of the train’s legs hitting the ground outside changed slightly, and Byakuren sat up. “We’re in the swamps of Hokkai,” she said. “We’re close.”

Miko nodded, looking out the window. The landscape had changed, again -- it was now more like marshland than anything, a series of muddy blue islands and red swampy water slightly hidden behind a veil of white mist. “Are you afraid to go back?” she asked.

“Afraid?” replied Byakuren. “I’m… nervous.”

Miko glanced back at her. The monk was usually fairly easygoing, even when she was serious, but you didn’t need Miko’s abilities to see that she didn’t want to go back. It was written in the way she’d tensed up completely, her hands gripping the table so hard Miko wondered that it didn’t break.

Miko considered what to say, but her thoughts were distracted by something unexpected; a large, orange light above a plateau in the distance.

“The Sun…?” she mused.

“The fires of Hokkai,” said Byakuren quietly. “The gases from the swamp rise, accumulate over the pillars, and burn.”

“The pillars?” asked Miko, and then the train moved again, and the light shone  _ through _ the plateau, and she saw it from a new perspective -- a massive array of stone pillars, all of equal height, emerging from the swamps of Hokkai.

And she realised what Hokkai  _ was _ .

* * *

The humans who came to fear her were not the ordinary people who believed that she was a youkai exterminator, but rival Buddhist magicians, who saw that she had embraced black magic in place of their own arts.

It was a bright, sunny day when they arrested her. She had gone quietly, not denying their claims, asking only if she could write what had happened, so her followers would know.

They told her that she was to be taken to Hokkai, the tengu’s prison. The place where the most evil youkai were kept would be where she, too, would be imprisoned for eternity.

That was the last day she saw the Sun for more than a thousand years… that bright, beautiful day.

Hokkai was not the tengu’s prison, however, even if the Buddhist magicians believed it was the case. It was merely how the tengu referred to the part of Makai that their portal opened to.

They took her to the top of one of the innermost pillars, climbing along a rough stone staircase that wound around it. They placed her there, on a platform no more than twenty feet across, carved a single seal at the top of the stairway, and descended. She never saw them again.

Around her, on the other pillars, were dozens of youkai. Some were humanoid; some were monstrous; and some were more like spirits, hollow black shapes that screeched into the void.

But none of them could pass the edge of their pillars, and nor could she.

Shinki visited soon after she arrived; in that eternal void, lit only by the ever-burning fires of Hokkai, there was no sense of time, but Shinki claimed it was a few days since she had arrived.

She had stood at the top of the stairs, and gestured for her to approach. They stood on either side of the invisible seal. Shinki had apologised, saying that she had agreed not to break any of the seals herself. In exchange, she used what she learnt from the prisoners to create the inhabitants of her world.

Shinki was fascinated by her, and fascinated her in turn. The outside world held infinite possibilities to the reclusive god, and the magic that she possessed intrigued the monk. Over time, Shinki brought her more things, and taught her more magic.

The monk began to work. She built a small shelter atop that pillar, and then practised the magic she had learnt from Earth, so that she would not forget it. When Shinki brought her paper, she wrote the spells she knew down, and the new ones that Shinki taught her.

And when Shinki brought her magical paper, she created something new from it -- a sentient magic tool, the Sorcerer’s Sutra Scroll.

During that time, sealed away, as the youkai around her gradually dissipated, she held on through sheer, stubborn faith. Indeed, she was more devout whilst sealed than she ever had been whilst alive. She recited her teachings to herself, gaining an ever-greater understanding of them. She considered humans, and youkai, and gods, and salvation.

And then one day, more than a thousand years after she had been sealed, and more than a thousand years after she had long since given up hope that she would ever leave, a ship that she had never expected to see again appeared from out of the distance, flying overhead.

And a figure came down, flitting around the pillars, and she dared to hope once more.

“Oh,” she cried, joyously, “oh, the world of dharma is filled with light!”

The figure flew over, and she smiled, wider than she had for an eternity.

“Are you the one who liberated this world?” she asked.

The girl in red stared at her for a moment, and then smiled.

“Finally found you,” she said. “You’re those youkais’ boss, right?”

* * *

The train didn’t approach the pillars, instead weaving through the swamp until it emerged upon a blue shore, scuttling a little bit longer until finally coming to a stop.

The doors opened, and the four of them left, finding themselves on the edge of a small town. White buildings with red roofs were mixed with simple wooden houses, and the single wide road that led through the town ahead of them was lined with empty stalls.

“Welcome to Hokkai!” said Yuki cheerfully. “They make really good snacks here, ‘cause of Shinki always visiting. It hasn’t been as busy since you left, Byakuren, but we should still be able to get something for the road ahead!”

“If it’s alright,” said Byakuren quietly, her eyes looking straight through the town at the pillars beyond, “I’d like to be on our way immediately.”

Yuki looked crestfallen. “But--”

“Yuki,” Mai said quietly, “we’re going, alright. This is important. You’ll just have to get your snacks on the way back.”

Miko stood in front of Byakuren, and looked at her until she looked back down. “Byakuren,” she said, calmly, “keep watching me. Don’t take your eyes off me. Don’t forget what we’re here to do.”

Byakuren nodded. “I know that.”

“I’m making sure.”

“…I appreciate it.”

“I know.”

They turned away from the town of Hokkai, and began walking, the long way around. When they came back to the swamp, the four of them floated in the air, hovering above the bubbling crimson water. It was slow, arduous travel, and the fog was sometimes so dense that they almost lost sight of each other, but they came through it onto a flat, brown plain.

There was no fog here. The pillars of Hokkai were behind them now, and there was nothing ahead but emptiness.

For a while, Miko simply tried to see any signs of anything, even the blue crystals that lit the rest of Makai, but there was nothing. An empty world, still waiting to be finished.

She turned back around to see Mai and Yuki creating a large, circular sheet of ice. Beneath it, columns of blue flame held it in the air.

“We’ll need this to get through the void, to the ruins,” said Mai. “Walking is… not recommended. There’s not always a surface out there, after all.”

“There’s some nasty things out there, too,” added Yuki. “Demonic spirits. They’re not fun at  _ all _ .”

Mai nodded in agreement.

Byakuren glanced out at the emptiness. Her edginess seemed to be wearing off, and Miko was grateful for that, if for no other reason than that she’d want Byakuren at her most competent for whatever was waiting out there.

The two of them climbed onto the icy platform, finding it surprisingly warm. The two Magicians moved to the front, looking ahead with unusually serious expressions.

And then Mai said, “Hold on,” and with a burst of flame they shot forwards, into the emptiness.

* * *

Deep within the ruins beyond the edge of the world, the solitary angel of death works tirelessly.


	3. Dawn's Light over the Sunless World

Her first memory was the voice of her god.

“Your name is Sariel. Your role is to deliver death to those who have moved beyond their purpose.”

She would be given a list, emerge into Makai, and destroy those on the list. She didn’t question who they were, or why they were there. She would help those who she eliminated end their lives to their own satisfaction, but these were the residents of Makai. They did not fear death; nor did they care for others. They accepted their own demise as readily as they accepted their own existence.

That an angel of death should come for them was merely another fact of life. They did not fear her, nor did they praise her.

One day, her creator made a request.

“Instead of destroying this one, bring her back here.”

Sariel did not understand. She had not been created to bring residents to Pandemonium. She was created to destroy them. But she followed her instructions, and waited as Shinki withdrew the spark of life, leaving an empty shell, and waited as Shinki gently, ever-so-carefully placed that empty shell within a large, empty room.

Over time, her creator made the same request, again and again. Sariel still did not understand. But she didn’t need to understand. She was created to obey her creator’s requests. She was created to destroy the residents of Pandemonium. She was created to eliminate those that had moved beyond their purpose.

Sariel continued her work. Soon, the empty room was filled with hollow crystal statues. She spared not a single thought towards them. If this was to be a part of her role, then so be it.

But she began to watch. Something in her mind began to snap. She would go out of her way to find those who had moved beyond their purpose, even if Shinki had not ordered it. At first, her creator was pleased. She travelled across Makai more and more, looking for those who she could bring death to, and instead began to understand the nature of the lives of those in Makai.

She realised how hollow her world really was, as she watched the people of Makai move in their clockwork patterns.

By that time, Shinki had long since worked out how to make the residents of Makai age. The number of immortals in Makai was dwindling. And with the creation of death, Sariel’s own purpose had become obsolete.

So it did not come as a surprise to Sariel when, one day, the same as any other, Shinki did not have any instructions for her. Instead, she made a simple request:

“Go forth, and live your life how you believe it should be led.”

And so the angel of death turned on her god.

* * *

Miko couldn’t say how long it was between when they entered the void above the empty brown plain, and when they left it. Once they were in, even that light had faded, and there was nothing. Just a sheer, unchanging blackness in all directions. Even the sound was gone, and even the light from Mai and Yuki had vanished, consumed by the sheer nothingness.

She remembered Byakuren mentioning that Shinki had built Makai’s rules, and wondered if this was a place where those rules didn’t hold -- there was neither light, nor sound, nor space, nor time, in this place.

But then, how were they moving through it? Could they possibly be moving through a space without space?

And then they emerged, and the void was behind them, and ahead of them was another empty plain, dotted with crumbling buildings. The ruins of Vina, in all their failed glory.

But as the icy platform flew towards them, it became obvious that there was movement in the ruins; tiny shapes moved in careful patterns above them, and as they approached, one of the shapes split off towards them.

Mai watched it carefully, and then nodded at Yuki.

“Alright, we’re getting off!” declared Yuki, and the platform suddenly flipped onto its side. As Miko and Byakuren hung in the air, the two magicians made their complex gestures, and slammed their hands into the centre of the platform at the same time.

The platform shot through the air, collided with whatever was coming towards them, and exploded.

The four of them waited for a moment, hovering above the ground, but nothing else approached them.

“Well,” said Mai, “we’ve gotten you here. Once we find the runaway, we’re going.”

“We appreciate your help,” replied Byakuren, taking out her Scroll. “Now that we’re here, I should be able to find her.”

She raised the Scroll above her head, and it began shining brightly, sending out a pulse across the ruins.

Mai looked at it skeptically. “That’ll let them know we’re here, right?”

“They already know we’re here,” remarked Miko. “Taking out one of their sentries like that wouldn’t have been missed.”

The pulse continued outwards, going across the ruins, before dissipating. The Scroll’s writing shifted, its rectangular symbols twisting around, and Byakuren read its incomprehensible script carefully.

“I know where she is,” she said calmly. “Also, we’re about to get attacked.”

Yuki grinned. “If you know where she is, go get her. We’ll distract them.”

Already a group of irregular figures was emerging from within the ruins, linking up with the others flying overhead and moving towards them.

Byakuren nodded, and jumped downwards, landing lightly on the ground. Miko landed next to her.

Above them, the two Magicians spun around each other, and a series of jagged frozen columns appeared around them, shooting through the air towards their assailants and exploding on impact. Byakuren waited just long enough to see that nothing was pursuing them, and then the two of them began to walk quickly towards the ruins of Vina.

From the ground, the shapes of the buildings were more obvious, though Byakuren and Miko only recognised some of them. As with Pandemonium, it seemed as if Shinki had simply looked at every kind of place of worship there was, and arbitrarily built all of them out of an odd, pale sandstone-esque substance. They passed simple temples and ornate temples, cathedrals and mosques and synagogues of the most incredible intricacy, all worn down and crumbling into themselves.

Byakuren led them in a mostly straight line, keeping an eye on the Scroll’s patterns as she did. Occasionally she would lead them through one of the ruined buildings, and watched the empty sky through the exposed roofs as she did. But there wasn’t much to the ruins, and it wasn’t long until they were mostly through them, and the pair arrived in front of a small church.

It was in less disrepair than the others -- it still had its roof, and the only real sign of damage were the empty spaces where stained-glass windows would have once been. The solid wooden door that marked its entrance was hanging open, and the two carefully entered.

Inside, it was mostly empty; there were no intricate carvings, no statues. A few dull red flowers grew in the corners. A faded cross, made of white crystal, hung against the back wall over a small plinth. Behind that plinth was a figure in white, with her back turned to them. Her shape was almost hidden behind six wings, folded against her back, and long white hair that fell to the floor.

“You’re the ones that Shinki has sent to stop me,” she whispered. She glanced back at them, and as the light caught her it shimmered, her body glittering with a crystalline blue -- or, as it became clear, the white skin that had covered her body had faded over time, revealing the blue crystal that lay beneath it. Her eyes, too, were completely blank, empty blue holes in a chipped white face. She smiled at them, and more cracks appeared. “But it’s already too late.”

SARIEL   
Renegade Angel of Death

“Too late?” replied Byakuren.

Sariel narrowed her hollow eyes. “It is too late to change things. What has been done is already almost complete. With one final pen stroke, I will become the god of Makai.”

She turned her back to them. They glanced at each other.

“Not the welcome I was expecting,” said Miko. She watched the figure carefully. “There’s something strange about her though…”

“Like the others?” asked Byakuren.

Miko shook her head. “No… she’s more… real…?”

Sariel glanced back at them again, with an odd expression. “Are you not here to stop me?” she asked, seeming genuinely puzzled. “I seek to usurp Shinki, and seize control of Makai. I told this to Shinki, two years ago. Were you not sent here to defeat me? Why has she waited so long?”

“She didn’t tell us anything,” replied Miko. “We’re here to collect an artifact that you took.”

“I never took any artifacts,” said Sariel. “My followers did. I only took this.” She held up a small piece of paper. “It was the only thing I needed.”

“What is it?” asked Byakuren.

Sariel smiled again. “The page for Sariel, angel of death. My page.”

They recalled Shinki’s little book, and Sariel continued, “It has taken me all this time to be ready to write. It has almost torn me apart. But I am ready. So why aren’t you going to stop me?”

“Why do you want to be the god of Makai?” asked Byakuren.

Sariel frowned at her, and then turned back to her writing. “If you’re not here to stop me, then I have no interest in you. Leave.”

“If what you’re doing is going to harm Shinki,” said Byakuren, “or if your taking over Makai is going to threaten everyone else, then we’ll stop you. Miko?”

Miko was still watching Sariel carefully. Then she nodded at Byakuren, and fired a single laser towards Sariel.

It collided with an invisible wall, sending shockwaves across it that revealed an odd, electrical field bound to five flowers, arranged in a pentagram and growing from the walls and roof of the church. As one, the flowers opened, revealing blood-red eyes staring back at them.

YUUGEN MAGAN   
Prototypical Evil Eyes

And then a bolt of red lightning emerged from each of the eyes, colliding with the walls and roof behind the two and collapsing it onto them instantly.

* * *

Neither Mai nor Yuki noticed the cloud of dust that emerged from the attack, but they noticed when a group of their attackers -- odd, half-finished creatures, fairies and demons with their chipped skin revealing their true crystal natures -- began to peel away towards the ruins.

Without a word, they nodded at each other, and Yuki leapt off an icicle that Mai created and rocketed across the sky, until she was opposite the group of crystal monsters; and then, the two of them made an intricate gesture at one another, and a dome of ice and a dome of fire emerged from behind them, combining to create a huge sphere and sealing the two of them in with their enemies.

It was a stopgap method, certainly -- it would only last as long as they could maintain it, and they would have to rely on weaker attacks to do so. But it meant that Byakuren and Miko wouldn’t have too much to worry about -- and it meant they could get some proper training in, too.

The Magicians grinned, and began to unleash hell on the creatures of the Demonic Realm.

* * *

Byakuren had pulled them both clear of the church less than a second before the attack hit, and now they were watching carefully from behind the ruined walls.

“A defensive attack…” mused Miko, looking around at the flowers, which were once more closing.

Byakuren shook her head. “It’s a living thing. One of Shinki’s earliest creations. But it shouldn’t be too strong… we just need to target the eyes whilst they’re open.”

Miko nodded. “There’s something else. Her, Sariel’s desires… they’re changing. I think they’re almost real.”

“Is that good?”

“It means that we should be able to reason with her… it’s weird, though. I can’t  _ quite _ read them yet.”

“What do you mean that they’re changing?” asked Byakuren, frowning.

Miko considered for a moment. “If she has her page from Shinki’s book, then she might be using it to change her own nature. So her desires are going to change along with that…”

“So we should wait until she’s done changing?” replied Byakuren. “I think she’ll probably attack us either way, though.”

“Probably,” agreed Miko. “Let’s deal with that barrier first. You run distraction, I’ll burn a Spell Card. Depending on how things go, if we can take her out  _ before _ she changes, it’ll mean we won’t have to deal with whatever she’s going to try to become in order to usurp Shinki.”

Byakuren nodded back. “Let’s go, then.”

She jumped over the rubble, landing back in the now-ruined church. The flowers concealing the eyes of Yuugen Magan were closed, and Sariel had her back to her.

She aimed, and fired a single bullet over Sariel’s head.

It hit the barrier, and those five eyes opened, looking down at her. And then she heard Miko’s voice, and they turned to look at her, too late--

“Divine Light! Honour the Avoidance of Defiance!”

Miko swung her sword through the air, and from where it slashed, a laser emerged -- one, then three, then seven, and then fifteen -- and they tore through the air with pinpoint accuracy. Five of them collided with the five eyes, and the electrical barrier faded; and then the other ten slammed around Sariel, trapping her between them. She looked back just in time for a massive barrage of amulets to emerge from the space that had been cut, peeling through the air and engulfing her within moments.

The amulets faded, and the back of the church, its supporting walls torn to pieces, crumbled, collapsing onto the prone angel. The topmost flowers of Yuugen Magan collapsed from their place on the roof, flopping onto the ground pathetically.

For a moment, nothing happened.

And then, a terrible, hissing whisper.

“You were too late.”

With a flash of violet light, the stones around Sariel were disintegrated, and a flickering, opaque shape emerged from them, floating into the air above the ruins. A shining white vortex twisted at its heart, and as it spun, the shape transformed -- its six wings expanding outwards as if to encompass the sky, its limbs and body growing, its empty crystal eyes solidifying, growing sharp black pupils and golden irises. The vortex itself split apart, white lines running across its body and forming the lines of clothes, of hair, of eyes and a mouth and of its limbs and hands -- a silhouette, imposing itself into the three-dimensional reality of Makai. As the vortex swirled outwards, it became a jagged, vertical white circle that floated behind the figure, rotating slowly.

And then it was over. Above them, the sky shone a deep, rich purple, illuminated by the looming figure that floated within it, gazing down at the world beneath it.

SARIEL   
God of the Unseen New World

When she spoke, her voice was uncertain, and echoey.

“Do you still dare to stand against me?” she whispered.

Miko stared at her, and smiled, eyes glittering. “I can read her desires,” she said quietly, a note of triumph in her voice. “Byakuren, if you can assist me--”

“Of course,” she replied calmly. “My stance hasn’t changed just because she’s a god.”

Miko’s smile became a grin. “I’d expect no less from you, Hijiri Byakuren!” she declared.

The two of them leapt into the air, facing Sariel. The former angel frowned at them.

“You’ll defy me?” she asked. “Even despite having failed?”

“Failed?” replied Byakuren. “We didn’t try to stop you. In fact, we haven’t even  _ begun _ .”

The newborn god paused, surprised, and then began laughing -- at first softly, and then louder, energetically. “Then let us begin!” she declared, a thin, ornate staff with a shining white orb at its end appearing in her hand. “I’ll instill into you both the terrifying power of a god!”

“In that case,” declared Miko, “I’ll do you the same! I’m Toyosatomimi no Miko, and I’ll show you the power of human potential!”

Sariel, still laughing, ecstatic, swung her staff towards them, and from it emerged a shockwave of violet energy that slammed towards them, spreading outwards and encompassing everything. In response, Byakuren leapt in front of Miko, drawing out her Scroll and chanting rapidly. A transparent circle appeared in front of them, and the shockwave burst around it like waves against an island.

Sariel was already drawing her staff back, but Byakuren lowered the barrier and in that moment, Miko fired another dozen lasers towards her, interrupting the god’s attack; but she flung two of her wings out to intercept the blows, sending them scattering across the ruins. Her eyes shone brightly at them, and she grinned.

“Sariel,” said Byakuren, and the god’s eyes narrowed, “are you having fun?”

She blinked in surprise. And then laughed again. “Is it fun to have my attack deflected, and to have the two of you stand against me? What I want is--”

“I know what you want,” interrupted Miko. “You want to recreate Makai, but not in your image. You’ve realised the same thing we did, that Shinki can’t create life.”

“Even knowing that, you want to stop me?”

“I want to challenge you, Sariel,” continued Byakuren. “I believe there will be meaning in this battle. I believe that we can identify what needs to be done. But we’ll need to do it right.”

“You think you can--”

“You want to keep enjoying yourself,” said Miko. “We’re going to help you, if you’ll let us.”

The god hesitated, glancing between them both.

“...What do you want me to do?” she asked. “I’m not going to surrender. I’m going to fix Makai, and I won’t let the two of you stop me!”

“Consider it a celebration,” suggested Miko. “A contest, in honour of your reawakening. A display of both our powers, a competition to see which of us is the most worthy!”

The god glanced back to Byakuren.

“A battle in which elegance and beauty, technique and form, are valued over power,” said Byakuren. “A battle of ideals, with neither bloodshed nor hatred.”

“Then show me,” Sariel said quietly. “Show me more feelings like this.”

“Sariel, god of Makai!” declared Byakuren and Miko. “I challenge you to a Spell Card Battle!”

And the newborn god laughed again, and replied, ecstatic, “Then I accept!”

* * *

The first that Mai and Yuki knew of any of this was when the violet shockwave of Sariel’s attack passed through their enclosed sphere, shattering it instantly.

As they were flung back by the shockwave, they saw it strike the few remaining demons in the trap, and something odd happened to them. Shattered skin regenerated; broken wings healed; blank, crystal eyes were filled in with colour.

Then, the fragments of the already defeated, shattered demons began to twist together, reforming into one; a flash of violet light, and between the revived demons was a girl in a red dress, her immense purple wings beating slowly at the air, keeping her floating, and watching them with cold purple eyes.

ELIS   
Resurrected Demon of Discord

Then, before either Magician could react, she vanished, reappeared behind Yuki, and kicked her into the air. She vanished, reappeared, and collided with Yuki again, attacking her over and over until she finally let her drop out of the air to fall like a stone towards the ground.

Mai gestured, and her battered partner stopped falling, and then drifted gently towards the ground.

“You needn’t have bothered,” said Elis calmly. “You’ll be joining her soon enough.”

She vanished again, and her arm swung through the air towards Mai--

\--and froze, instantly encased in ice.

“Me and Yuki have a special trick,” Mai said quietly. “See, we specialise in the same kind of magic, so we sort of share the same pool of magic. And there’s a  _ lot _ of loose magic in Makai, so it helps us limit ourselves. Makes sure we don’t do anything too dangerous.”

Elis gestured with her other hand, and a thin white wand appeared in it -- but before she could move it, that hand froze as well. Mai still hadn’t glanced back at her.

“But what that means,” continued Mai, “is that when one of us goes down, the other suddenly has all the magic that the two of us would normally be using.” She finally turned to face Elis, and the demon flinched from her manic gaze. “Thanks for getting rid of the dead weight for me.”

And with a gesture, the ice shattered, taking Elis’ hands with it.

In the distance above the ruins, the skies began to fill with stars.

* * *

“Divine Sign, Stars of Makai!”

Around the grinning god, a dozen shining white orbs appeared, rotating slowly. From them came white arrows -- slowly at first, and then faster, until the sky truly was filled with shooting stars, all of them aimed at the Buddhist and Taoist.

“I’ll take care of the stars, so you take the offensive,” said Miko, and Byakuren nodded. Then, as the glowing patterns appeared at their backs, they each made their own declarations--

“Magic, Magic Butterfly!”

“Honour, Ranks of Twelve Levels!”

A flurry of flower petals of a dozen colours emerged around them, swatting at the shooting stars as they came towards them. Even as Miko’s barrier was shredded by Sariel’s attacks, the flowers on Byakuren’s wings were shining, releasing a spray of bullets that took the form of massive butterfly wings. The monk flapped them, once, and the bullets became a barrage that rushed into Sariel, and even as the god deflected them with her wings, they sped past her, knocking out two of her floating stars.

She glanced back at the ruined stars, and laughed, and the remaining stars moved into a closer position, firing even more intense bursts.

“Miko--” started Byakuren, even as the bullets began to reform around her.

The Taoist’s eyes were moving across the flurry, and she gestured rapidly, causing the tornado around her to spin ever wilder, its petals flickering off and taking out the incoming stars even as Byakuren beat her wings, again and again, until finally the last of Sariel’s orbs was gone.

For a moment, there was a pause in the storm. The god blinked, and then whispered, “You know, this  _ is _ fun.”

And then she spun her staff through the air, and a crimson shockwave blasted out of it at speed, tearing through both Byakuren’s wings and Miko’s tornado.

“Show me more, o humans who have become youkai!” she appealed. “Death Sign, Blood-Red Raptor!”

She drew her staff through the air once more, leaving a trail of red, and the trail of red transformed into a swarm of crimson birds that tore through the air at speed, shedding blood-red feathers as they did.

“We’re switching,” stated Byakuren. “You attack, I’ll defend.”

“Of course,” said Miko, smiling. “Shall we do that one?”

Byakuren nodded back, also smiling.

And as one, they declared, “Strike Light Sign! Glory of Skanda’s Noble Path!”

Byakuren leapt forwards instantly, colliding with the birds aimed at Miko and tearing through them, leaving afterimages in her wake; and when she’d cleared a hole, she leapt aside, and Miko aimed her sword and fired a dozen golden lasers like the beams of the sun through it, knocking Sariel backwards.

“There’s nothing noble about that!” she protested, and swung her staff back around, this time drawing the shape of a six-pointed star in the air. From the centre emerged another swarm of birds, but from each of its corners came a thin red laser, each one aimed towards Miko.

Byakuren swung herself downwards, kicking through the birds as they approached and chanting as she did, until a transparent blue bubble appeared around her, deflecting Sariel’s lasers and causing them to carve through another dozen birds. The few that passed, Miko carefully dodged, before firing another dozen sunbeams directly at Byakuren.

They collided with the orb around her, swung outwards, and then converged back in towards Sariel from their furthest point, refracting through the air and colliding with the unprepared god.

Once again she was knocked backwards, almost dropping her staff. But her golden eyes flashed, and she tightened her grip, before declaring, “Divine Sign! Hollow Tree of Life!”

Below and behind her, a flat white circle appeared on the ground, and two more to either side of her, and then another two in front of that one, and then one between and ahead of those two; and as shining white lines along the ground began to form between the initial circles, two more circles appeared in the outer rows, and then two more in the central row, one ahead of, and one behind, Miko and Byakuren. And then the lines connected, and pillars emerged from each circle, as walls of shimmering light emerged from the lines.

It had happened within moments, an encroaching sefirot that encompassed the entirety of the ruins of Vina and trapped them before they realised what was happening.

As the pillars shot upwards, Sariel spun her staff, and they burst apart, transforming into fountain-like bursts of lasers that rained down upon the two.

And then the lasers collided with another array of lasers, curving around the duo.

“Light Magic, Magic Milky Way!”

The twisting lasers spun around them in a complex orb, reflecting Sariel’s lasers off into the distance.

Miko was silent for a moment, watching the lasers, and looking down at the pillars on the ground. Opposite them, Sariel was hidden behind two walls of solid light.

Then, having come to her decision, she sheathed her sword, and declared, “Light Sign, Guse Flash!”

Miko herself was engulfed in light, and multi-coloured orbs began raining downwards from her as Byakuren carefully moved her own curving lasers upwards, forming a kind of umbrella above her and Miko. Just as Sariel began to move her staff to take advantage of the opening, the monk suddenly made another gesture, and her lasers swung around beneath them, forming a massive scoop that collected Miko’s orbs and flung them forwards.

With Byakuren’s lasers no longer blocking them, Sariel’s own lasers began to descend once more -- but the god had repositioned them assuming a barrier was in place, and they slammed into the ground, colliding with the very circles they emerged from and causing a series of explosions that tore the ground apart.

As the shattered circles of light faded, the rainbow orbs of Miko’s Spell Card, thrown forwards by Byakuren’s, collided with the circles maintaining the remaining wall in front of Sariel -- and then, the pillars fading, the two cancelled their own attacks, Miko’s remaining lights fading as they passed by the god.

The light around Miko faded, and she sagged. “How many -- how many has it been so far?” she asked weakly.

Byakuren glanced at her. “Only three. Are you alright?”

“I used a spell against that flower thing, remember,” she replied. “I might… I need to get my strength back.”

“Makai can sap your energy if you’re not used to it,” agreed Byakuren. “I’ll handle this one on my own, then.”

“On your own?” asked Sariel, surprised and irritated. “It’s taken both of you to deflect my attacks, and you said you’d show me even more fun than this! Where’s the fun if you lose this easily?”

“Don’t think that I can’t defeat you on my own,” said Byakuren calmly, and the circles on her wings began shining crimson.

Sariel grinned again. “Let’s see it, then! Divine Sign, Refraction of Past and Future!”

Around her appeared another dozen glass-like orbs, showing a dozen visions -- scenes of Makai and Gensokyo, as well as others that Byakuren didn’t recognise. From within the orbs suddenly emerged swarms of pale birds, the sound of each one’s flapping wings the sound of a voice.

But Byakuren wasn’t watching, nor was she listening. Behind her, the light of the orbs had become four corners, and below her a fifth red sphere appeared in the air, and the mark of a pentagram was formed by the light between them. Then, the spheres released a flurry of blue arrows that twisted and curled through the air around each other.

“That’s--” started Sariel, surprised.

“The greatest spell of Makai!” declared Byakuren. “Great Magic, Devil’s Recitation!”

She drew out her Scroll, which was glowing crimson, and ran her hands along it as if playing a keyboard. In response, immense red spheres of energy emerged from it, flying towards Sariel even as the arrows of her attack shredded the incoming birds.

The god responded by flicking her staff again, and larger creatures emerged from the orbs to intercept -- birds, and then flying reptiles, and stranger creatures still, half-remembered flying demons from before the world was named. But her eyes were scanning Byakuren carefully, waiting for the spell’s final component.

And with a flash of terrific light, it came.

The four orbs on Byakuren’s wings  _ exploded _ with crimson light, sending immense beams of energy towards Sariel. One of the demons tried to block one of the beams and was simply vaporised, and the god leapt aside for the first time since the battle had begun, dodging a beam right as it tore past her and vanished into the unfinished distance.

Byakuren continued to run her hands over the Scroll, launching the massive red spheres, and Sariel gestured again; but as the remaining creatures converged upon her, the four lasers emerged again, tearing through them right as they approached.

Sariel watched the monk carefully, and laughed. “I can continue to create life, for as long as I want to!” she declared triumphantly. “So long as I look out for your attacks--”

There was the sound of shattering glass, and she looked over to see that Byakuren’s first wave of crimson orbs, forgotten amidst her dodging the chaos of the lasers and the barrage of arrows, had collided with two of her vision orbs, shattering them. As she watched, more of Byakuren’s attacks flew past and shattered another.

Then, as she began to gesture again, she heard the rushing sound of one of the lasers approaching, and quickly made another gesture, wrapping her wings around her and wincing as the attack rebounded off them. There were more sounds of shattering glass, and then silence.

Sariel peeked out of her wings to see the pentagram behind Byakuren fading, and the monk turning to her partner.

“Miko?”

“Feeling much better,” she replied. “Just needed… a little break.”

“I’m glad,” Byakuren said cheerfully. Then, she turned back to the god, who was emerging from within her wings. “Sariel--”

“Six rounds,” said the god. Her voice was hoarse, but she was still grinning. “Six spells. Six attempts. And I know that’s not all that you have! Show me, like you said, the possibilities of humanity! Show me the best you can do!”

Miko and Byakuren glanced at each other, and nodded in unison.

“The best we can do?” repeated Miko. “If you so insist!”

“EYES OF BRAHMA!”

“SEVENTEEN-ARTICLE CONSTITUTION BOMBS!”

“DIVINE SIGN, DEATH AND REBIRTH!”

Even as Sariel launched another purple shockwave towards them, a complex array of curving lasers had appeared around Byakuren, and the shockwave burst around the lasers like it was nothing. Then, those curving lasers twisted through the air towards Sariel, a massive net in the shape of stars that cornered her in an instant. Next to her, Miko gestured, and a trio of white orbs flew in a triangular pattern towards Sariel, before bursting outwards and creating their own net of light.

The god’s eyes glittered, though, and from the ground beneath her emerged a swarm of crystalline fairies, who flew up and collided with the lasers, tearing holes in the net that she quickly flew through. As the pair repositioned their attack, Sariel flung another shockwave at them, and then another -- but then the second phase of the impossible Spell Cards began.

From the edges of Byakuren’s cocoon of light, where her curling lasers emerged, tiny stars began to scatter; and from the points where Miko’s three orbs continued to appear, her own tiny amulets scattered too, and they all converged towards the rapidly-dodging Sariel.

More fairies appeared from around them, and below them too, but Miko spun around, and even as her bombs continued to fly at Sariel, her amulets repositioned, ripping through the attacking crystal fairies before they could get near.

And now, surrounded by light and firing off her own attacks, deafened by the sound of her fairies as they exploded on impact, Sariel was almost overwhelmed. Something resembling adrenaline pumped through her body. Everything was moving so quickly, and she was alive in a way she’d never felt before.

It was probably why she missed one of Miko’s bombs until it was right above her, exploding and tearing through her wings, causing her to drop like a stone out of the sky.

The fairies dropped with her, shattering into hundreds of tiny crystal stars, and the purple light of the sky faded, leaving it lit only by the last of the lasers as they scattered out into the empty void.

* * *

They found her crumpled in what remained of the church, her body lying prone.

They hadn’t realised until they got this close how large she’d become; Sariel towered over both of them, an immense creature possibly as much as twenty feet tall. Her wings, which were even longer, lay draped over the nearby buildings, and from this close they could see they were made of thousands of white crystals in the shapes of feathers.

“Sariel?” asked Byakuren, quietly.

She opened one huge eye, looking at them both. She smiled weakly. “I concede, I suppose…” she whispered, and then sighed. “I only made it to five, huh… how am I meant to face Shinki if I can’t even defeat two humans?”

She pulled herself up, and seemed to compress herself as she did; it was almost an optical illusion, the same as the shifts between the parts of Makai -- suddenly she was only Miko’s height, no longer a looming, godlike creature. With her disheveled appearance and her wings folded behind her back, she seemed much as she had when the two had arrived.

“I know why you want to replace Shinki,” said Miko, quietly. “Your first desire.”

“My only desire,” she replied simply. “Before now.”

“Makai won’t be able to grow under Shinki,” continued Miko. “She doesn’t have the ability to give things life, not true life, without something like this happening. But you know that would be the case for you, as well.”

“So, what?” asked Sariel. “Should I just abandon Makai? Leave it as it is, for all eternity? My purpose -- all I want is for Makai to be able to grow.”

“Everything that’s happened, happened because of Shinki,” mused Byakuren quietly. “I think… she  _ made _ you to be her replacement.”

“She made me…? I did everything of my own will!”

“And who gave you that will?” asked Byakuren. Sariel hesitated. “I know Shinki. Or I know her well enough, at least. I know that she knows that she can’t create life here. So she wanted you to succeed. It’s why she was so… vague, about all of this. So I think… she wanted you to be able to surpass her.”

Sariel frowned. “But I can’t,” she whispered. “Everything I made -- it’s just what was already there. It’s as empty as everything else.”

Miko had found something in the rubble of the church, a small scrap of paper. “You’re wrong,” she said, reading it, and the two of them glanced at her. “Shinki doesn’t want a replacement.”

“But--” started Sariel.

“‘Sariel, angel of death’ -- and rebirth, you’ve added,” read Miko. “‘A being that claims the lives of those who have moved beyond their purpose. She does not do so cruelly, but with sympathy. A kind god of death, and a companion to those faced with the burden of their own existence.’” She smiled. “That’s what Shinki wants you to be.”

“Are you sure?” asked Sariel.

Miko smiled, somewhat smugly. “My best talent is being able to read people,” she replied. “And this is written pretty clearly.”

Sariel was silent.

“At any rate, we should go back to Pandemonium,” remarked Byakuren, looking around at the ruins. “There’s nothing for us here.”

Miko nodded, and then paused. “…We need to find the satori’s cup,” she said. “Sariel, do you know where it could be?”

Sariel shrugged weakly. “As I said, all I took was the page. It could be anywhere in the ruins.”

They looked around at the crumbled buildings around them, unhappily. The effects of their battle had devastated the already devastated area, and there were hardly any buildings still intact. Digging through those ruins could take a while.

Sariel knelt down, finding a slightly-squashed flower bud on the ground. She picked it up, then held her staff over it. A violet wave of light poured over the flower, and from beneath the ruins floated the other four eyes of Yuugen Magan, which converged onto the central eye and combined into a humanoid shape.

The resulting figure was dressed in a red dress, with five eyes on her forehead and her crimson hair curled back into a long ponytail. After blinking for a moment, and stumbling, she noticed Sariel, and bowed to her.

“I name you Magan Yoshimi,” said Sariel quietly. Then, glancing at the others, “…And I need you to do me a favour.”

MAGAN YOSHIMI   
Resurrected Electric Eyes of Dawn

The girl nodded, and held out her hands. Fine tendrils of electricity emerged from her palms, crawling across the ground and probing through the ruins.

“Bring us every artifact you can find that’s intact,” ordered Sariel. “If we’re going back to Pandemonium, Shinki will want them.”

And then she slumped back down onto the ground, and stared up at the empty sky in silence, lost deep in the thoughts of one who had never really had to think before.

* * *

Mai and Yuki arrived a few minutes later, carrying the battered Elis between them. The would-be devil had lost both hands, both legs, and one of her wings.

“I liked your lightshow,” said Mai. “Is that what your Spell Card thing’s meant to look like?”

“That was an… unorthodox Spell Card battle, but yes,” said Byakuren. “Usually, it’s one person against another, and… technically speaking, some of those Spell Cards weren’t cleared…”

As they placed Elis on the ground, Sariel knelt in front of the demon, waving her staff over her meticulously, repairing the damage the demon had taken.

The two Magicians watched her suspiciously. “So, you’re on our side now?” asked Yuki.

“I was never your enemy,” muttered Sariel. “And if what I’m told is true, I don’t think I’m anyone’s enemy. But I’m still thinking about that.”

She lifted up her staff, and the healed Elis sat up. “Lady Sariel, they broke my hands off,” she protested. “We’re just letting them go?”

“We’re going back with you, though?” asked Yuki, and Elis frowned.

“We’re going back with you?” she repeated.

“Just as soon as she’s finished her work,” noted Sariel, gesturing at the newly revived Yoshimi, who was gathering a small pile of odd objects at her feet. Miko was piling them all into her cape, and frowning as she wondered if there would be enough space.

Then, a tendril of electricity wrapped around it, came a small, slightly-dented silver cup. It was dumped into the pile with everything else, but Miko quickly picked it up and examined it.

“Is this the satori’s cup…?” she mused. She turned it on its side, and then looked at its base, as if expecting some hidden compartment to open. “It’s just a cup.”

The last few tendrils of electricity flowed back into Yoshimi’s hands, dropping another few of the unusual artifacts. Then, she nodded, and said in a quiet voice unused to speaking, “That’s… all…”

Sariel nodded back at her. Then, whilst Miko gathered up the rest, placing the cup on top, she nodded at Elis. “Alright, take us to Pandemonium.”

The demon grinned, and a wand appeared from inside her sleeve. She flicked it to where the doorway of the church had once stood, and a shimmering gateway appeared, with the blue crystal buildings of Pandemonium visible on the other side.

“That’s handy,” mused Mai, as she began to walk into it. “I’m going to get you to teach me that.”

Elis stuck her tongue out at her, but she didn’t close it for either of the Magicians as they walked through. After a moment, Yoshimi followed, helping Miko carry the sack so nothing spilt out. Byakuren followed behind her, but paused a moment whilst Sariel waited, looking around.

“Once I’m done with Shinki,” the god said quietly, looking at the shattered crystals dotted across the ruins, “I’m going to come back. I promise you all.”

Then they, too, stepped through the portal, and Elis a moment after, and then the ruins were silent, lifeless once more.

* * *

The portal emerged in the space surrounding Shinki’s tower, and the god of Makai was expecting them.

Shinki stood in front of the doorway to her tower, dressed in deep black robes with red trim, her six black wings opened behind her, Yumeko standing behind her silently, and she watched with interest as the group emerged -- first Mai and Yuki, then Yoshimi, then Miko, then Byakuren, and finally Sariel and Elis.

“Residents of Makai,” she said, and almost instantly, Mai, Yuki, Yoshimi and Elis fell to their knees. She smiled as Sariel did not. “There is no need to bow,” she continued. “You owe neither your lives nor your allegiances to me.”

“Shinki,” started Byakuren, “you created Sariel to--”

“I created Sariel to replace me,” she confirmed. “Makai cannot prosper under my watch. It will under hers.”

“You’re wrong.”

Shinki raised her eyebrows.

“If you wanted me to replace you,” Sariel continued, “there were easier ways to do so. You wanted me to have my own will, though. And I don’t want to replace you, or depose you, or anything like that. Nor do I want to become the god of Makai.”

Shinki frowned. “Why not?” she asked. “You can--”

“I can no more create life than you can,” Sariel replied quietly. “No matter which of us is in charge of Makai, it won’t change.”

Shinki was quiet for a moment, and then began to laugh to herself, bitterly. “So I’ve failed,” she muttered. “After all this… Makai is destined to remain the same. In that case, Sariel, I offer you the same request I made before. Go. Live how you want to live.”

Sariel didn’t move.

“You don’t want a replacement,” said Miko quietly. “You want a companion.”

“I have Yumeko,” replied Shinki. “I created her  _ specifically _ to be my companion.”

“You wanted someone who could sympathise with you…” murmured Byakuren, realising what Miko had already realised. “And the only person who could really do so was another god.” She frowned. “But neither of you can be god of Makai, if that’s so.”

“Someone has to be god of Makai,” agreed Shinki, misunderstanding. “But--”

“Must they?” interrupted Byakuren, and Shinki frowned. “From what I’ve been told, the Outside World works pretty well without gods. And the gods in Gensokyo don’t really do that much, either.”

“That’s your world, though,” replied Shinki dismissively. “The people of Makai--”

“I was told the people of Makai were dangerous,” stated Miko. “They’re powerful, certainly. But I don’t think they’re dangerous. They weren’t created to be, after all.”

“Even if they’re not dangerous, they can’t create life, the same as I can! That’s why I needed Sariel! A creature without free will can’t create!”

“Elis,” asked Sariel quietly, “if you had my power, what would you make?”

“Make?” the demon replied. She considered for a moment. “A bat.”

“A bat?” repeated Shinki, but Sariel ignored her.

“Yumeko!” she called. “If you had Shinki’s power, what would you make?”

“An assistant,” Yumeko replied instantly. “The fairies are completely hopeless.”

Sariel glanced back at Shinki, even as the other god glanced at her maid in surprise. “You have it backwards, Lady Shinki,” she said. “It’s not that free will is necessary for the act of creation. But you need to be able to create to have free will. You need to want something, and you can only do that if you can change things. If you truly want Makai to change--”

She pointed her staff at Elis, and the orb at its tip shone with a vivid, golden energy. “Elis of Makai!” she declared. “I grant you the power of creation!”

A tiny golden orb emerged from the staff and floated into Elis’ chest. For a moment nothing happened, and then the demon knelt down and began digging into the crystal ground.

Shinki made a soft, unhappy noise, and reached out, but Sariel held her hand out, and the other god paused. Elis continued digging until she had a small chunk of crystal, and then began to carefully carve it until she had a roughly bat-shaped creature in her hands. It flapped its wings a few times, and then began flying around her in slow, wobbly loops.

Shinki watched it, the crack in Pandemonium forgotten. “A bat…” she murmured.

“What do you want, Shinki?” asked Byakuren quietly.

“I want to go,” replied the god. “I want to go and see the worlds I’ve only ever been told about. But-- but someone has to look after Makai--”

“Must they?” asked Miko.

The god looked between the two of them, a pair of humans from Gensokyo, and then at Sariel, and then at Elis, with her clumsy bat still flying around her as she watched it with delight, and then back at Yumeko.

“Yumeko,” she said quietly, “I have a request for you.”

“Yes, Lady Shinki?” the maid replied hesitantly.

Shinki began laughing to herself. “I feel like everything’s changed, all at once. I feel free, Yumeko. But I want you to promise me -- don’t make me regret this~!”

“…Of course, Lady Shinki. I would never disappoint you.”

“I know.”

Shinki walked over to the tower, and placed one hand on it, and held out the other to Yumeko, who cautiously took it. The god squeezed it carefully, and then said, in a deep voice that seemed to echo through all Pandemonium, “Residents of Makai!”

A light began to flow out from Shinki’s fingertips, a pulsing golden energy that ran up the tower in ever-growing waves. She watched it for a moment, and then looked back.

“To ensure the wellbeing of Makai!” she continued. “I-- I--”

She felt a gentle pressure on her hand, and looked down to see that Yumeko had placed her other hand over it.

“I grant you all the power of creation!”

It was orders of magnitude more powerful than anything Sariel had done in the ruins. The golden shockwave echoed through Pandemonium, causing every piece of crystal to ring in a beautiful cacophony. The sky above them shone as the shockwave vanished into it.

And then it was over. The sky was dull again, and Shinki fell to her knees, Yumeko catching her as she slumped over.

But the god was smiling to herself. “Yumeko,” she murmured, “make something for me.”

“Lady Shinki?”

Across from them, Sariel was talking quietly to Elis, and she took her wand out again.

“Sariel,” said Shinki quietly, and Sariel glanced back at her. “You’re leaving?”

“It’s like you said,” she replied. “You told me to go and live how I want to live. I need to go back to ruins, and revive my companions, and then… I’ll find out how I want to live.”

Shinki smiled. “I’m glad… I’m so glad you were a success, after all…”

Elis’ portal opened, and Sariel smiled back at her. “Take care, Lady Shinki.”

“Take care, Sariel.”

Sariel, with Yoshimi and then Elis following her, stepped through the doorway and vanished.

With them gone, it was quiet once again. Yumeko was looking around for some loose crystal, and Mai and Yuki were beginning to inspect the abandoned artifacts. Byakuren and Miko walked over to Shinki, and sat on either side of her.

“Sorry for not telling you, Byakuren,” said Shinki quietly. “I wasn’t expecting you to be here. But I’m glad you were. …Thank you.”

“I’m your friend, Shinki,” replied Byakuren. “Of course I’m going to help you.”

“Even if it’s not what you’re expecting,” mused Miko.

Shinki laughed. “I don’t think this could have gone as well, without you two here. Ah… I feel like a huge weight’s been lifted off my shoulders. I feel like I can do anything.” She grinned. “More than I already could, at least.”

“Would you like to come with us, back to Gensokyo?” asked Byakuren.

Shinki considered it. Then she shook her head. “I’m going to explore Makai. I haven’t done that in a while. Then I might go down to Hell, see what all the fuss is down there. Try and invite some of the nicer ones to Makai. Maybe look for that crafting god you mentioned. After that… we’ll see~! And if I get back, and Makai’s in ruins, I’ll know who’s to blame!”

“You’re to blame,” replied Miko coolly. “After all, it was your decision.”

Shinki laughed at that, too. “I suppose it was.”

They were quiet for a moment.

“So what’s with the outfit?” asked Byakuren. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in black.”

“I thought I should act the villain if you had sided with Sariel,” replied Shinki, slightly embarrassed.

“You didn’t do a good job,” remarked Miko.

“That’s only because you went off-script,” said Shinki. “I’d been rehearsing, the whole time I was waiting! Wasn’t I, Yumeko?”

Yumeko, who was halfway through tearing out a large chunk of the ground, glanced back at them and nodded. “She was very intimidating, too,” she said loyally.

“Ah, but I don’t like being the villain,” sighed Shinki. “I don’t even really like being god of Makai. I just want to be Shinki, and make things.” She glanced over at Yumeko, who had dropped the chunk of crystal whilst talking to them. “My dear Yumeko, would you like help with that?”

The god wandered over to the struggling maid, who began protesting even as she helped excavate the crystal. Byakuren and Miko watched them for a moment.

“We should probably get back to Gensokyo,” Miko said finally. “Who knows what’s been happening whilst we’ve not been there.”

Byakuren nodded. “I always worry about leaving the Temple…” she said. “I know I should trust my followers more, but--”

“I don’t blame you,” agreed Miko. “Without my influence, Futo’s probably gotten herself tied to a tree trying to set your Temple on fire.”

Byakuren pursed her lips, and nodded silently.

Miko walked over to Yuki and Mai, who were digging through the abandoned pile of artifacts, separating them into their own piles -- seemingly a personal pile for each, and a third pile between them that she guessed they’d be fighting over shortly. She knelt down, grabbed the corners of her cape, and pulled it from underneath the central pile without disturbing a single artifact. They looked up at her, and clapped.

“We’re going now,” she said, leaning down and picking Satori’s cup from the collection. “I appreciate your assistance.”

“Don’t worry ‘bout it!” replied Yuki cheerfully. “We had a fun time, and fought some really cool people, and got to learn about your weird Spell Card thing!”

“And it’s always a pleasure to go all out,” agreed Mai. “Maybe again, sometime?”

“Hopefully not,” said Miko calmly. “You both stress me out, even more than my own followers do.”

They both grinned back at her, and went back to sorting through their piles.

Byakuren waved at them, and then turned back to Shinki, who was helping Yumeko stand the block upright. “Shinki, we have to leave,” she said.

The god glanced back, letting go of the rock and causing it to fall neatly back into its hole. Then she smiled. “I figured. You did what you came here for, after all. You want me to give you a lift back to Gensokyo’s entrance?”

“Former Hell’s, actually,” said Byakuren. “We need to speak to Satori.”

“Of course.” Shinki gestured, and an immense slab of crystal tore itself from the nearest building, shaping itself into what looked like an immense, legless butterfly with a carriage on its back and wings that shone in every colour of the rainbow, reflecting a light that wasn’t there. “It’ll take you back to the entrance. I--”

“I’ll miss you, Shinki,” replied Byakuren. “You kept me going, all that time in Makai.”

“You kept me going, too,” said Shinki quietly. “That’s why… I didn’t try to do all of this, until you were gone. It was worth doing whilst you were here…” And then she grinned. “And I guess it’s all worth doing now, too! So thank you, Byakuren, and thank you, Miko. I owe you both.”

She bowed to them, and then returned to helping Yumeko with her crystal. “Make sure to come back soon, alright?” she added. “I want both of you to see what Makai’ll become!”

Byakuren hesitated, and then leapt forwards and hugged the lonely god. “I promise,” she said. “Take care, Shinki.”

“Take care, Byakuren.” She glanced at Miko, and Miko bowed slightly. “And it was nice meeting you, Miko.”

“It’s been a pleasure, Shinki,” replied Miko, sincerely. “I’ll be sure to be back.”

The butterfly floated towards the ground and placed one of its wings downwards, as if to form a ramp. On the carriage, a small door folded inwards. Shinki had once more turned away from them.

Byakuren hesitated again, but something told her that the amount of goodbyes she would saying to her friend could go on forever, and -- there was something wonderful about seeing her smiling next to Yumeko, as the maid carefully began to chip away at the material, and the god watched her with the delight of a new wonder.

So she walked up into the carriage instead, waving one last time at Shinki; and after a moment, reapplying her cape, Miko followed her.

With steady beats, the butterfly lifted into the air. They looked out the window of the small room -- it was just large enough to fit a small table and two chairs -- to see that they could see through the butterfly’s wings, and as it lifted above the streets of Pandemonium they saw the other residents running around. Some were sitting in their stalls, tinkering with the crystals; others already had clusters of small, imperfect creatures following them; a few were outright battling, wielding unusual weapons or commanding their own crystal creatures to attack. It was a chaotic scene, but somehow it wasn’t a terrible one.

It was a lot like Gensokyo, really.

They kept flying, and the ground beneath them gradually faded away, leaving only empty space. Miko glanced down, and then said, quietly, “It’s a good thing we didn’t try flying to Pandemonium.”

Byakuren nodded in agreement. She was looking out into the distance, deep in thought.

They were quiet for a little bit longer.

“You know,” said Miko, “it’s a shame.”

Byakuren snapped back into reality. “It’s a shame?” she repeated.

“It always takes something like this to get us to cooperate, when we do it quite well,” continued Miko.

“Well, we could hardly cooperate under usual circumstances,” replied Byakuren. “Your religion--”

Miko waved her hand. “That’s not what I’m talking about,” she said. “A religion is just a way of expressing an ideology, and I think our ideologies are more similar than they are different. We both want salvation, it’s just a matter of who we want it for.”

“You want it for yourself,” argued Byakuren.

“I’m willing to extend it to others,” countered Miko. “Besides, I seem to recall that you initially only wanted the salvation of the youkai for your own, self-serving reasons.”

Byakuren frowned, and then sighed. “The worst thing is, you’re probably right. There are certainly… elements of Taoism that would assist in the salvation of the youkai. There are probably elements of Buddhism that you would do well to learn from, too.”

“I had a lifetime of Buddhism,” said Miko. “More than enough.”

“If you insist. But I will grant you, there’s certainly no reason for us not to work together.” She smiled. “I’d certainly be open to the idea of us being more social outside of that, too.”

“That’s almost smooth, coming from you.”

“Shut up. Even saying that, I thought about Shinki mocking us.”

Miko laughed. “You know, not being able to read her, I couldn’t tell if that was deliberate or not.”

“Probably deliberate,” replied Byakuren. “She’s a lot smarter than she lets on.”

Miko nodded.

After a moment’s thought, Byakuren continued, quietly, “Not as smart as she thinks she is, though. She wanted to open up Makai, and wanted to make her own replacement, because she wanted to just be a regular resident of Makai, exploring with everyone else…”

“I was wondering what you were thinking,” said Miko.

“Wouldn’t your ability let you know?”

“It’s not mind reading,” replied Miko. “It’s just… a general, overall impression. Enough to give me a good grasp of anyone I come across. Other than Shinki, I suppose. Or Satori.”

Byakuren nodded, and then said, “She really did wait until I was gone, though. I wonder if she thought she had to be the god of Makai in order to visit?”

“The idea of a god, and the idea of Shinki…” mused Miko. “Perhaps the two are so wrapped together, that she thought she wouldn’t be Shinki if she weren’t god of Makai anymore.”

“Perhaps she wouldn’t have been, if things went as planned,” added Byakuren.

“It’s a good thing we were there, then.”

“It really was…” said Byakuren, trailing off. She glanced down at her partner. “We’re asking the satori about that, right?”

“Of course,” replied Miko. She held up the cup in front of her, examining it from all angles. “There’s no way all this was just about this cup.”

“You still want to know what it does, though.”

“…Yeah.”

And then there was a rushing noise, and they were flying through a blizzard and emerging on the other side, in front of a sheer wall of blue crystal that stretched into the sky and into the distance as far as they could see.

They were back at the edge of Makai.

* * *

Rin had been waiting for them. As they approached the wall, a segment turned pink and slid open, and there she was, smiling at them and gesturing. The butterfly had already taken off, presumably to return to Shinki.

The cat glanced briefly at the cup in Miko’s hands, but otherwise didn’t acknowledge it. Instead, she merely said, “Satori’s ready to meet with you both immediately. Follow me~!”

The guard nodded at them as they walked past. “Waited for ya,” she remarked, turning back to her book.

They walked out of the crystal caves, back into the gloom of the Underworld. Rin led them out of the rocky valleys and through the city, until once more they entered the Palace of the Earth Spirits.

As they approached the door to Satori’s room, they heard muffled voices, and as it swung open, they saw that she wasn’t alone in that wide, empty room this time. Jumping around her desk cheerfully were a green-haired satori in a yellow dress --

KOMEIJI KOISHI   
Unthinking Maiden of the Closed Third Eye

\-- and a much taller, dark-skinned girl with large black wings, a large metallic rod on her right arm, and a large red eye on her chest.

REIUJI UTSUHO   
Bird-Brained Nuclear Star of the Underworld

“Hello, hello?” Koishi asked, and in response, Utsuho replied, “Hello, hello!”

From the looks of things, they had been at it for a while.

Satori held up her hand, and they both froze mid-jump. “Koishi,” she asked, her voice much gentler than the last time that Byakuren and Miko had heard her speak, “can you go and play with Okuu and Orin for a moment? I’ve just got to settle a bit of business.”

Koishi looked at the new arrivals. “Oh, it’s the religious people!” she said, and waved. Then she ran off to one side, Utsuho chasing after her, and Rin following them both.

Satori’s gaze slid back to them, and then to the cup in Miko’s hands. “Well done,” she said, holding out her hand over the desk. “As promised, I will offer you any reward that is within my power to grant.”

“You knew,” replied Miko simply, not handing over the cup.

Satori smiled. “Of course I knew. My pets wander far and wide, and they tell me all sorts of interesting things. ‘There’s a rumour,’ I hear, ‘that Makai is going to be opening.’ So I ask them to investigate. I find out that Shinki has made a severe miscalculation in her plans, and that it could have consequences for both the Underworld and for many other places, besides. So I take steps to correct that miscalculation.”

“Makai opening would have had consequences for this place?” asked Byakuren.

“Shinki wanted Makai to open so that she could  _ leave _ ,” replied Satori. “But her replacement would never have been ready on her own. Sariel would have been torn to shreds, and the demons of Hell would have spent the next hundred years fighting over the power vacuum. Makai’s residents would have fled, and they would have come here, unprepared for the world outside their borders. We would have been overwhelmed, and so too would Gensokyo. Perhaps even the world beyond.”

Her two guests were silent, a silence broken only by the “Hello?” “Hello!” of Koishi and Utsuho in the room’s far corner.

“I asked this before,” said Miko, “but why did you choose to send  _ us _ ?”

“Orin tries to keep an eye on my sister whilst she’s on the surface,” explained Satori. “She told me of a Buddhist monk who had come from Makai, who could only be the final prisoner of Hokkai. And she told me about the revived Taoist prince who can read desires, and how the two of you had shown excellent teamwork during the latest incident. So here we had a good friend of Shinki’s, and someone who could read the desires of a newborn god, and with excellent compatibility with one another.” Her smile widened, clearly pleased with herself. “It was only a theory, but I was certain it would succeed the moment the two of you walked in. And I was clearly right.”

“Clearly,” replied Miko. She walked forwards and placed the cup on the table.

“Water drunk from this cup suppresses psychic abilities,” said Satori, before Miko could even ask. “I don’t know what Shinki used it for, but she told me she needed it. I used to use it to visit the surface… I could do so again, now, I suppose.” She was quiet for a moment. “Also, all alcohol drunk from it tastes of strawberries.”

They were quiet again, and Satori added, “No, I don’t know why.”

“Can I make my request?” asked Byakuren.

“I will permit you to train my sister at your Temple, if and when you can,” replied Satori calmly. “Take care of her. Ask her to come home, when you can. Is that all?”

“That’s all.”

“And for you, Toyosatomimi no Miko?”

Miko thought for a moment, and replied, “There’s nothing you can offer me that I would need.”

“Neither of you did this for a reward, after all.” Satori gestured towards Rin, who quickly ran back over. “Could you guide these two back to the surface, Orin? Our business is concluded.”

The kasha nodded, and wandered over to the door. The abrupt conclusion was somewhat jarring for both of them, but--

“I’m not wasting my precious time with my sister talking to two humans,” added Satori. “Your assistance was appreciated. Farewell.”

And after that, there really wasn’t anything else to say. They followed Rin out of the Palace, through the streets of Former Hell, through the Fantastic Blowhole, until they emerged from a small cave at the base of Youkai Mountain, and once more stood under the light of Gensokyo’s Sun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, first of all: wow, this is long. This is the longest thing I've written in years. Anyway.
> 
> I've actually wanted to write a fic about Byakuren + Miko since before the Kasen fic, even, but I just didn't have the right hook. They're remarkably fascinating characters, both in how similar and how different to one another they are. Even if you don't like the ship (which is fair enough), they have a great dynamic, and it's neat to see how they've changed over the course of the fighting games.
> 
> But then I found the right hook, and the fic changed with it. It's less about them as characters, and more about them reacting to the things happening in Makai. Shinki's almost become the central character despite appearing in maybe a quarter of the fic, total, simply because it's... about her? Kind of? Everything that happens in it is informed by the fact that Shinki is a fundamentally lonely character who feels trapped by her own circumstances.
> 
> It's always odd for me to talk about what a fic is about, because I tend to be very loose when writing in terms of thematic elements. I'll often improvise scene-by-scene, going with what "feels" right. I write what feels good, because it feels good? And that's kind of what this fic is about, too? The meaning in the act of creation. What it means to create, both as an individual and within a society. But it's probably about other stuff, too.
> 
> But that's Touhou, isn't it? ZUN's created a wide world with a massive number of characters and a handful of rough guidelines and from there you can really take whatever you want from it. It's because it's a setting like that that a work like this is possible.
> 
> This got kind of rambling, and I apologise. I just have a lot of feelings about Touhou, and I haven't really even been into it that long.
> 
> So as per usual, I hope you enjoyed this story, and let me know what you think! Until next time~


End file.
